Many Kpop songs that caused controversies in the past have made headlines. For a wide range of reasons and explanations, the songs listed below have faced backlash, or in some cases their respective musical artists have. While some tracks have been banned by three of the most influential broadcasting networks in South Korea – SBS, KBS and MBC – for rather mellow reasons like the use of trademarks or brand names as their titles, others have been met the same fate due to their highly sexually suggestive lyrics or such visuals included in their supporting music videos.
While these stand as the reasons for them being reduced to controversies on the national platform, on the International front, more arguments add up and weight in to decide the response met by the contentious content. On several accounts, K-pop artists have resorted to incorporating certain cultural symbols or markers for the sole purpose of alleviating the visual aestheticism of their works. Not only does it reduce culturally relevant paraphernalia, or in some cases, diction’s significance, this practise also appropriates them.
The spectrum of this controversies really makes you question everything, especially when PSY’s Gentleman was banned by the aforementioned networks as it captured the artist kicking a traffic cone. However, despite countless opposition, K-pop idols have continued to feature sexist, colourist, racist and stereotypical representations and have been mostly met with retaliation due to the appropriation of Black culture and its mannerism (for example – idols sporting box braids, afro hairstyles, and sometimes even blackface) and Indian culture (and often its classical dance forms).
As the ultimate step to make do with the repercussions so faced, they often deal out apologies and official statements upon being called out by their fans. Nevertheless, in many cases those apologies have just bit the dust, with the same musicians repeating their mistakes. Although this article doesn’t solely focus on the instances of cultural appropriation, some controversies listed below are directly related to the unfortunate case.
Kpop Songs That Caused Controversies
1. War of Hormone by BTS
Controversy: Misogynistic lyrics; the BTS leader later acknowledged this and educated himself on the matter, and as you can see, the group really turned the table on their old image for the best.
2. Cookie by NewJeans
Controversy: Sexual innuendos in a song composed for a group that consists of minor-aged girls.
3. How You Like That by BLACKPINK
Controversy: Disrespecting the idol of Hindu God Ganesha. The video was later edited and the Hindu deity’s image was removed.
4. Tough Cookie by ZICO
Controversy: Homophobic slurs incorporated in the lyrics.
5. Step Back by GOT the Beat
Controversy: Despite the concept of the group being about empowering women, the song lyrics were pointed out to be rather problematic and taking a Step Back from the actual feminist ideology.
6. Feminist by San E
Controversy: Let’s just say that he got the concept of feminism all wrong, and to say the least, the song wasn’t Feminist regardless of his eventual explanation post.
7. Earthquake by NCT 127
While Cherry Bomb and Make a Wish have invited their share of issues due to the inclusion of “violent lyrics” and borderline culture appropriation respectively, this one’s a more recent controversy. The song itself isn’t problematic, but the way some members of the group started singing it while the earthquake alert was heard during their live broadcast, their short-sighted responses attracted a lot of vehement reactions in turn. In hindsight, they took to their social media platforms and apologised upon having made the joke in the heat of the moment.
8. Curry Song by Norazo
Controversy: Appropriation and stereotypical representation of Indian culture. Many words used out of context. And as always, the customary practice of an apology on being caught was posted. It’s a mystery how PSY’s Gentleman was banned by KBS for the aforementioned reason, but a song like Curry Song was celebrated by them on the national platform.
9. White Snake by Lee Hyori
Controversy: Completely disrespected the Hindu (religious) hymn ‘Gayatari Mantra’ by incorporating it in the song lyrics when there was no need to do so, and further conflated the audio with a rather sensual video.
10. Windy Day by OH MY GIRL
Controversy: Started calling themselves “curry-dols” as their song included Southeast Asian musical elements. Also, named their dance sequence as the “Aladdin Dance” even though that has no correlation with any Southeast Asian lore; Repeated cases of cultural appropriation emerged with this group.
(G)I-DLE and MAMAMOO have felt similar negative reverberations on the account of pushing for cultural appropriation during some of their performances. Other than the controversies associated with these songs, there are countless more incidents that can’t even been counted on fingers, and most of them were even swept under the rug with the passage of time.
Fans particularly despise how despite the K-pop groups reaching out for global acclaim, and having ever-expanding international fanbases continue to disrespect certain cultures in the name of being “inspired” by them, when it all gets misrepresented majority of the time. Not having comprehended the difference between appreciating and appropriating some cultural roots, their lack of knowledge on the matter of global cultures has often united their fans in not only calling their behaviour out, but also conveying the message that it’s high time these artists acknowledged their mistakes and not just extended apology statements to clear up their names in the moment.
What are your thoughts on these controversial Kpop songs? Are there any particular music videos or tracks that come to your mind for their problematic content? Let us know your opinions in the comments section below.
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