SEOUL, Sept 21 — Popular K-pop girl group G-IDLE was again called out for cultural appropriation, after previously being criticised for appropriating Indian culture in a music video.
This time, the girls are performing on an idol reality show called Queendom, pitting themselves against other established girl groups. What irked fans was a taped meeting where the girls talked about wanting to incorporate "African" influences into their performance.
Member Soyeon said she wanted G-IDLE's Yuqi to sing a particular phrase in what she said was an "African style" - which was really her lowering her voice in an attempt at sounding like a black man.
Soyeon then proceeded to suggest they incorporate "African instruments" into their performance, instead of synths then proceeded to call their upcoming performance style "ethnic hip".
Sadly this lumping together of African culture and music is common even in Malaysia - ignoring the diviersity in cultures and tradition among African nations.
G-IDLE is under Cube Entertainment, with six members, namely Miyeon, Minnie, Soojin, Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua. Their debut track Latata was one of 2018's biggest hits for a girl group in South Korea.
Check out G-IDLE's performance on Queendom below:
