Recently, a video went viral of ATEEZ members singing a controversial song. Their company has since responded.
The song in question is the infamous “Curry.” The “Curry” song was released by the K-Pop duo Norazo over a decade ago and became a hit in South Korea. Still, “Curry” is undeniably controversial and problematic. The lyrics and choreography harmfully stereotype South Asian culture. Even the original MV depicted the duo wearing brownface.
Shanti, Shanti / Yoga, Fire / I love hot curry
— “Curry,” Norazo
Three years ago, SEVENTEEN‘s Wonwoo sang “Curry” in an episode of the group’s popular variety show Going Seventeen. At the time, Norazo’s Jo Bin issued a statement about the song since he witnessed criticism directed toward Wonwoo. He captioned his social media post, “The writing I wrote is not intended to encourage disputes. I wanted everyone to be comfortable. Sorry. You have no choice but to close the feedback window. The opinion window can be a place of controversy with each other! May everyone see us with understanding and love. We will definitely grow in a good direction!”
Norazo are not racist and do not insult religions! I’ve heard from people of Indian descent today that curry is not a part of real Indian food. The reason why I ended up working on the song without checking the facts was because I lived in Korea while knowing false information about the history of curry, so I was taught to think, ‘Curry is Indian food!’ As a result, I did not realize what the words I used to express India as a homeland actually meant and how sacred they were! This was surely my mistake!
All we wanted to do was let it be known that curry is a delicious food that anybody can enjoy through our Norazo style! I want to say that we didn’t write the song with the intent to put anyone down or cut down the culture or tradition of a precious country!
From now on, we’ll be sure to be singers who make and sing songs with proper information! We apologize to people of India and Southern Asia who were hurt by this! And lastly, just like us, our hoobae singers didn’t know it could be conveyed that way!
We hope that this song, which was ignorant about another country’s tradition, will not hurt our hoobae singers who are on their world tour while loving the fans and cultures of other countries!
— Norazo’s Jo Bin
Despite this, “Curry” has continued to be sung and disappointed idols’ fandoms. In April this year, STAYC‘s Sieun and Sumin were criticized for singing the song.
#STAYC Check-in Mission
KCON JAPAN 2023まで まだまだ時間が残ってるですって?
待つのに飽きたKCONerたちのために #STAYC がおすすめ KCON PLAYLISTを聴いてみてください! #KCONJAPAN202305/12~05/14
Let‘s #KCON ! pic.twitter.com/VqMFzaALjU— KCON Japan (@kconjapan) April 15, 2023
Now, ATINYs are disappointed since two members of ATEEZ sang the offensive “Curry” song. ATEEZ is considered by K-Pop fans to be one of the few groups that are not problematic or have a history of partaking in offensive behavior and cultural appropriation.
A behind-the-scenes video from MBC R <IDOL RADIO> was released yesterday. In one moment, San is dancing and singing “Curry.” Fellow member Yunho can be heard offscreen singing along softly as he was the one to bring it up originally. According to ATINYs, he commented that “DJ San sounds like shanti,” which triggered San’s singing.
not the curry song,,,, somebody better bring this up to kq cuz… #san #ateez #currysong #fyp #atiny #kpop #foryou #foryoupage
The clip went viral on TikTok with 111.9K views at the time of writing. ATINYs were shocked. Some commented that Yeosang even appeared to recognize that something was wrong.
So, ATINYs quickly took to social media, including Twitter and the b.stage app, to contact the members and their company, KQ Entertainment, about the problematic nature of the song. Some have pointed out that Seonghwa previously mentioned “Curry.”
i dont know if anyone noticed this or not but san was saying “dj san” and it sounded like and yunho started singing the curry song and san copied it + before in the 1n2d show seonghwa wrote curry song. i think we all know how disrespectful and racist that song is. pic.twitter.com/OVfneUThzc
—
(@hongiloveclub) July 8, 2023
if someone going to the fansign tomorrow can sacrifice their personal questions to tell yunho san and seonghwa about the curry song that would be really great idk
— ً (@jjjangyunho) July 8, 2023
its just very disappointing that yunho san and seonghwa have been talking about / singing the curry song recently given the very racist and disrespectful components of the song
— keena day
(@chaerymatz) July 8, 2023
fym yunho and san sang the curry song and seonghwa brought up the curry song. pic.twitter.com/N1rGNXJ6N1
— pink djongho (KEA DAY) VOTE JONGHO OST NOW (@i240918) July 8, 2023
Here’s the video?!?! pic.twitter.com/CcaHBuJcrM
— namjin
. (@abyssbyseok) July 8, 2023
my whole tl is filled with people spreading awareness to this situation and i love yall but can we please stop arguing with ktiny on b.stage free talk and continue spamming cause the members are up now and would be able to see it faster
— • sannieeee month • siham • (@yunhosfavorite_) July 9, 2023
Within 24 hours, KQ Entertainment responded to ATINYs’ concerns. The company shared a thread via Twitter, explaining that their artist(s) had “unknowingly hurt” ATINYs with their actions. So, KQ Entertainment apologized on their behalf and promised to educate.
The fandom has had mixed reactions to KQ Entertainment’s statement. Many fans would like the artists themselves to address the matter.
while it’s not my place to accept this apology, im grateful that kq seems to be taking this seriously and responding quickly. the next step is a direct apology from seonghwa, yunho, and san. hopefully that will follow soon.
— outlaw rowan
(@catboyjoong) July 9, 2023
i hope we will still hear an apology from yunho san and seonghwa https://t.co/RbftgInp84
— ri⁷ JILLIAN DAY★ (@pasteIeria) July 9, 2023
We personally do acknowledge and appreciate the company for the prompt actions.
However, we really hope to know it from Ateez themselves that they are aware about how the song is sensitive to our community.
Thank you
https://t.co/9F1scygaTo
— ATEEZ INDIA (에이티즈 인도) (@ATEEZ_India) July 9, 2023
we’d appreciate san, yunho, and hwa to also address this https://t.co/okCtdEMVFN
— PRI ✩ (@MIFFGI) July 9, 2023
please remember if ur not desi this is not ur apology to accept or not accept. to my desi moots i hope you get a proper apology from san, seonghwa & yunho https://t.co/3900r6iiwJ
— neon yeosang (@yeosfav) July 9, 2023
atiny remember this apology is for desitiny !! it’s up to them to accept the apology and I hope we can hear an apology from san yunho and seonghwa https://t.co/VJPfmDqsJQ
— ateez content (@atzcontents) July 9, 2023
from a desitiny (speaking for myself)
i appreciate this apology, but i would also like to hear from san, yunho, and seonghwa themselves, to show they have truly learned from this situation. it would mean a lot to me and i’m sure to other desi atinys as well
https://t.co/1oHhBuiyHr
— ty ♡ OUTLAW (she/they) (@yuntinyz) July 9, 2023
MBC Idol Radio Korea has also released a statement regarding the video. The company took responsibility for not editing it out originally.
Hello, this is Idol Radio. In the behind-the-scenes video released on July 8, a scene with the “Curry” song was included. We apologize for the inconvenience to viewers around the world regarding the scene. Although it was not our intention, we feel deeply responsible for not being able to catch it during the editing process. We will be aware of this issue so that it does not happen again in the future. We will continue to think about better content to repay your interest and support for Idol Radio.
— MBC Idol Radio Korea
— MBC 아이돌라디오 (공식계정) (@idolradiokorea) July 9, 2023
Additionally, the video containing the offensive scene has been taken down. The members also did not post via b.stage after their concert.
This content was originally published here.
