K-pop boy band EPEX is under fire after releasing their latest music video, Anthem of Teen Spirit. The music video features the title track of their third mini-album, Prelude of Anxiety Chapter 1: 21st Century Boys, released on Monday. The lyrics and costumes of the music video have become a hot topic of discussion among netizens.
The reference to Crystal Night in the lyrics is a reason for this discussion. Netizens claimed the K-pop idols referred to Kristallnacht by including Crystal Night in the song. The boy band also received criticisms for their outfits in the music video. According to the netizens, they closely resembled the uniforms of Nazi soldiers.
Kristallnacht is the German word for Crystal Night, and it refers to a painful event in the history of Germany, in which Nazis brutally killed several Jewish people. A violent riot broke out against the Jewish people in Nazi Germany on November 9 and 10, 1983. During the incident, Nazis attacked several Jewish buildings, schools, hospitals, and homes. More than 30,000 Jewish men were arrested, and over 7000 businesses were affected.
Netizens' Reactions
Netizens claimed the boy band used this horrible event as their theme for the title track. They expressed their frustrations and disappointments online through various social networking platforms. A Twitter user requested k-pop fans to stop supporting the song because it used a painful event in German history for music concept.
"EPEX's latest tt references a horrible event in german history where Jewish people were terrorized and murdered. please don't support this song. I'm disgusted and the company + songwriters should apologize. Jewish suffering is not an aesthetic", the netizen wrote.
Another netizen wondered how did the song get approval from the production team.
"I'm just shocked. I don't even know what else to say. How did this even get the "OK" for production? Like this comeback design/concept must have gone through at least 10 people for approval, and they all didn't think twice? Why does this even exist?" the person stated.
Some netizens also contacted the songwriters for comments about the controversial lyrics. But they were asked to contact EPEX agency, C9 Entertainment, for comments. The agency is yet to respond to the backlash it received after EPEX's comeback.
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