Lagos, Nigeria – K-pop girl group Kiss of Life don enter serious wahala after dem hold live stream wey many fans call culturally insensitive. On April 2, the four members – Julie, Natty, Belle, and Haneul – celebrate Julie’s 25th birthday for YouTube, but wetin dem do no go down well with plenty fans.
Daring the live stream, dem dey dress like hip-hop artists, wearing typical hip-hop styles like gold chains, snapbacks, and cornrows while claiming dem dey celebrate “old-school hip-hop vibes.” However, the reference wey dem show of three Black men caused many to dey vex.
As dem dey vibe for the livestream, dem come use blaccent and AAVE, which na African American Vernacular English, multiple times. The video don disappear from their online channels, but clips don still dey circulate online. After the live, dem even post TikTok video to 50 Cent’s “In da Club” while still dressed in the same outfits. That video don follow like rain, deleted too.
A lot of fans take their sha voicing their concerns on social media, tag the performance as cultural appropriation and offensive. One fan remark say, “Them dress as if na Halloween costume, this wasn’t accidental.”
As di noise dey grow online, on April 7, Kiss of Life respond with one apology post on their social media. “We really want to sincerely apologize for the content we uploaded that caused disappointment to our fans,” the statement read. “We wanted to show our love for the Old School hip-hop category because e influence our music, but we take di concept too far.”
Di group continue, “We know say nothing we fit say or do go fix wetin don happen. We go try learn and do better. We understand say we don disappoint plenty people.” Their letter show dem dey reflect about the consequences of their actions and na serious matter wey dem don turn for learning experience.
Fans get divided reactions about di apology, with some dey demand more direct acknowledgment of the race wey dem offend. “Who una dey afraid to mention? This weak apology no dey cut am,” one fan tweet.
This incident drop at a time wey K-pop idols dey under scrutiny for issues of racism and cultural appropriation. Just before this matter, clips of BLACKPINK‘s members go viral after fans accuse dem of using the n-word during their training days. As dem comot di tension, fans highlight how dem expect Kiss of Life to learn better.
Previously, Kiss of Life member Julie don apologize after her past incident wey surface, where she use the n-word wey make many fans dey vex. “I no need to explain, I regret about my careless actions and I don learn a great deal during my training years,” she talk before.
As conversations about cultural sensitivity and racism dey progress, K-pop fans, especially from the Black community, dey push for accountability from idols and their agencies to show better understanding of Black culture and its significance.
