Kiss of Life issues apologies

[RussianRoulette]

Kiss of life has issued apologies following their recent controversy.

On 4/3 Kiof's company issued this apology on their website:
​

Hello,
this is S2 Entertainment.

We’d like to address the issues that arose from the content that was uploaded on KISS OF LIFE’s official Youtube yesterday (April the 2nd).

We sincerely apologize for causing discomfort to our viewers, the true purpose of the content was to celebrate hip hop culture where much of the musical inspiration for Kiss of Life comes from. We apologize for our shortcomings in recognizing the negative cultural implications that our content would be perceived as.

Our members and our team promise to approach cultural references with greater caution and respect moving forward and all related content has been removed from all of our channels.

Thank you.​

Source

It was met with a lot of criticism, people felt the apology was not sincere and I heard it failed an AI generated test as well?

Today the four members of Kiof have released a handwritten apology to their fans:

This apology for the most part still has not been accepted by fans. Fans are angered over the fact that it took them this long to release a handwritten apology and feel they should have released a handwritten apology in the first place.

Kiof is currently on the asian leg of their world tour.​

---

This is my side ramblings:

We'll see how their comeback does, but I low-key feel like Kiof might be done for in the west?

When their controversy hit Knet forums even Knetizens were saying Kiof came off as very insensitive and I feel like it says a lot of even Knets are saying you are being racist

I have already been seeing people trying to sell any tickets they have for the Asia leg of their concert to not attend and even sell of merch such as their lightsticks.

A ton of their major western fan accounts have released statements saying they will no longer support the group and close down.

Once again I feel like we'll need to see how the comeback does before we know if they're truly done for, but i've never seen western kpop fans this pissed over a group in a long time.​

 

[The best member ever]

Apologized for what I see a whole lot of "we apologize" and not a whole lot of "for?"

The Lil Taco comment deserves its own apology on its own.

 

[Seriously]

Every time an idol says shit like this will "be a learning experience".

Anybody with half a brain and a crumb of industry knowledge could of told you that entire thing was a fucking stupid idea. Which is annoying, because they could've actually sat down and made some cool content about their love of rap/hip hop.

 

[temporarywool]

Every time an idol says shit like this will "be a learning experience".

Anybody with half a brain and a crumb of industry knowledge could of told you that entire thing was a fucking stupid idea. Which is annoying, because they could've actually sat down and made some cool content about their love of rap/hip hop.

Exactlyyyy.

I would also like 2 point out that natty went 2 the Kanye west concert in korea last year.

 

[RussianRoulette]

Every time an idol says shit like this will "be a learning experience".

Anybody with half a brain and a crumb of industry knowledge could of told you that entire thing was a fucking stupid idea. Which is annoying, because they could've actually sat down and made some cool content about their love of rap/hip hop.

The thing that also kind of confuses me is, I don't even think Kiof is even really considered much of a rap/hip hop group in the first place so I don't understand why they went with this concept???

Like, Blackpink is considered a rap/hip hop based group. 2NE1 is a rap/hip hop based group. I don't think Kiof has one song I would throw into the rap/hip hop category? Sticky and midas touch certainly aren't hip hop songs and none of their songs have a strong wrap part in them either.

Julie said she wanted the "rap/hiphop theme" for the live because they're a rap/hip hop concept group but it's like ... where? Where and when have y'all ever been a rap/hip hop group?

 

[Chiharu]

I truly don't understand how no one realized that this would be a terrible idea...especially given that one of the members is apparently from America

The thing that also kind of confuses me is, I don't even think Kiof is even really considered much of a rap/hip hop group in the first place so I don't understand why they went with this concept???

Like, Blackpink is considered a rap/hip hop based group. 2NE1 is a rap/hip hop based group. I don't think Kiof has one song I would throw into the rap/hip hop category? Sticky and midas touch certainly aren't hip hop songs and none of their songs have a strong wrap part in them either.

Julie said she wanted the "rap/hiphop theme" for the live because they're a rap/hip hop concept group but it's like ... where? Where and when have y'all ever been a rap/hip hop group?

well, calling BP a hip-hop group is a stretch...

 

[Beefy]

no mention of the communities impacted by their little minstrel show either…alright. and throwing in how hard it was to write it…alright [2]

this apology means nothing, they already shared they that were “learning and growing” the first time with Julie and then pulled this shit anyways. just empty words so they can continue to exploit and use a culture they don’t even respect fr.

 

[BianTwo]

Apology or not, people would get angry anyway, they can't win, because the damage is done.

Me with my unpopular or hot take, that Lil Taco Belle was funny, nice "pun". Again, there was no bad intention from the members but it was a crazy and bad idea. And being from America doesn't immune you from doing it.

Now that the company and the members released an apology, it's up to each people to judge, unfollow them, don't listen to them anymore, etc, but bullying them won't help. There's plenty of other K-pop groups out there to follow.

I bet this will happen again anyway, with them or with another group.

I'm curious about their next comeback to see the charts and sales, I'll have a better overrall view with the group.

 

[Gyujin]

I truly don't understand how no one realized that this would be a terrible idea...especially given that one of the members is apparently from America

Two members are from the US.

 

[kimsguardian]

this is getting interesting

 

[Bellamy]

So each of them wrote 1 paragragh...

 

[RussianRoulette]

Mini update:

Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai Kiof fans are now attacking western kpop fans on Twitter for still being mad and not accepting the apology

 

[The best member ever]

Mini update:

Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai Kiof fans are now attacking western kpop fans on Twitter for still being mad and not accepting the apology

Girl a letter written on toilet paper doesn't mean shit to the rest of us.

I've never understood the handwritten letter bs.


Why build a western fan base if you have no interest in respecting anyone?

 

[temporarywool]

.

 

[temporarywool]

Girl a letter written on toilet paper doesn't mean shit to the rest of us.

I've never understood the handwritten letter bs.


Why build a western fan base if you have no interest in respecting anyone?

Because they know the market is 2 crowded in Asia 4 ggs so they simply have older members and twerk a little and ifans r so desperate 4 ggs without minors that they'll fall 4 it.

 

[RussianRoulette]

Girl a letter written on toilet paper doesn't mean shit to the rest of us.

I've never understood the handwritten letter bs.


Why build a western fan base if you have no interest in respecting anyone?

Well I guess we (sadly) know one thing: if their Asian fanbase is already jumping in to defend them on this their career and comeback with probably be fine.

Unless they give another apology that’s actually sincere it seems they do have enough of an Asian fanbase to just focus on Asia promotions/activities and not be affected, assuming they will start to ignore the western fanbase going forward.

They already lost like 200-300,000 followers on social media because of this.

 

[roseychu]

Wasn’t Julie already “educating herself” when she used the n word?

 

[yyShin]

The problem is that they knew it would've been problematic considering the posts "don't leave us" etc etc
So yeah they didn't care

 

[The best member ever]

Its weird that I commented on this at all because I usually dodge these conversations but I do want to expand on this.

There is nuance that some people willfully will never even try to understand. There is an inherent worship that comes with stanning K-pop groups.

The fact of the matter is that they will even gain fans from this, because some people support such ideologies religiously.

As a black fan, one of the first hurdles of getting into K-pop (honestly all Asian music) is that most of the people you like will be racist. It will be protected by the veneer of ignorance but it is something you have to come to terms with. Controversy like this is so shocking because it is a constant reaffirmation.

As a long-time black fan, there always seems to be a facade that things are changing, but we are still on this rinse and repeat cycle. To think a decade ago a exhange Youtuber went to a press conference to confront people in the Korean industry over the representation of black people in Korean media.

When it comes to fans from other ethnic groups, the empathy will just not exist, which is another thing you have to come to terms with. Being called "butt-hurt" if you call an idol out for doing black face or, as our OH family used to chant "racism is an American problem."

There was comfort for many people because it was always somewhere they could share these ideologies without criticism but it is important to know how visibility works. If KoL does not want to be mindful of other cultures, it makes no sense to have such a strong Western push (I feel like all I ever hear about them is how they do their research for Afrobeat and Soca?) This will bolster their Asian fan base (through raw defensiveness) and even rope in some more worshipper.

I think, to some extent, H+ tends to be more progressive than OH. So there is often some comfort in the fact that most of us are careful to not insult each other's cultures. However, it is shocking to see that courtesy not returned by some users.

My main issue with the letter is that the handwritten letter being more sincere has always seemed manipulative and immature. That is just my opinion.

Again, I've been told my entire life that J-pop and K-pop is no place for a black person. So, I've come to terms with it (or, I guess I thought?) I fully know that my feelings in the discussion of how black people are treated in Korean media does not matter. I do see the perspective that we don't have to listen to K-pop.

 

[RussianRoulette]

Another update:

Laura from Katseye accidentally liked and then unliked the apology post on Instagram.

Fans went to weverse to inform Laura on why the apology is problematic and Laura issued an apology stating liking the post was an accident: