Kiss of Life cultural appropriation backlash: K-pop controversy erupts – Entertainment News

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K-pop girl group KISS OF LIFE held a customary livestream to celebrate their eldest member Julie’s birthday (March 29) recently. The official invitation shared with fans via social media insisted on an “old-school hip-hop theme” for the party. Following through with it, the rookie music act’s interpretation of the dress code has left their global fans irate.

The quartet showed up sporting cornrows, gold chains, and “rapper-themed outfits.” Some members were also seen in Bantu knots (also called Xulu knot or Nubian knots) — a traditional African hairstyle hailing from the Zulu Kingdom of Southern Africa, instantly inciting serious accusations of cultural appropriation and racism on social media.

KISS OF LIFE’s controversy notably came to light mere days after K-pop sensation BLACKPINK came under fire for including a racial slur while covering Black artists’ songs during their pre-debut era as seen in old clips leaked by an alleged former YG Entertainment employee. “‘It was her bday theme’ like is the theme for kpop this week just cosplay/stereotype black people?” an X user fumed in a tweet.

KISS OF LIFE cultural appropriation accusations blow up

Backlash addressing the “Sticky” hitmakers’ latest birthday livestream wasn’t just focussed on their choice of clothes, it also directed attention to their actions and mannerisms throughout the event.

While it’s one thing to enjoy rap music, it’s another to fall into a stereotype spiral. In an attempt to come off as “cool,” a member even called another ‘Lil Taco Bell.’ However, the K-pop fan community on X was quick to call out their actions as “indefensible.” Users couldn’t let the issue slip especially since Black appropriation has been particularly rampant.

As the KISS OF LIFE cultural appropriation controversy continues to explode, fans also highlighted a March 31 Bubble message which unmistakably shows evidence that the members expected the matter to blow up. “This year’s birthday live was so much fun… Please look forward to Julie unnie’s birthday content too, and promise you won’t leave the fandom after watching it,” the post read.

Julie birthday live deleted, KISS OF LIFE agency responds

The ‘Happy JULIE Day’ live video could no longer be found on YouTube at the time of writing. Clicking on previously embedded links of the birthday live left behind “Video unavailable” and “This video is private” prompts.

S2 Entertainment, the South Korean record label behind KISS OF LIFE, has since formally addressed the issue via a statement. On April 3, the company stated on the group’s website community page, “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.”

KISS OF LIFE Julie’s N-word controversy

In 2023, KISS OF LIFE member Julie issued a public apology on SNS for saying the N-word. A resurfaced video shed light on her time as a YG Entertainment trainee at the DEF Music Academy. The then-17-year-old Julie sang B.o.B’s “Strange Clouds ft Lil Wayne” without omitting the N-word. As the clip did numbers online, criticism was sure to come.

And when it did, she typed out the following apology on X: “This is JULIE from KISS OF LIFE. An old video has resurfaced in which I, without paying enough attention, sang the original lyrics of a cover song that included a certain word, for which I deeply regret. This incident made me realize how my careless actions can cause harm to many people and during my 6 years of training period I educated myself and matured.

“I’m determined to be more cautious and meticulous to prevent making the same mistakes in the future. I want to express my sincere apologies to everyone who may have been hurt by my actions. I will strive to show you a better version of myself and continuous growth in the future. Thank you for your understanding.”

Cultural appropriation in K-pop

There have been numerous instances of fans trying their best to hold K-pop artists accountable for appropriating Black culture. These developments have especially been viewed as embarrassing and disrespectful accounts, especially with Hallyu singers endlessly chasing Western validation in grand hopes of being tagged as “global” artists. What’s even worse is that a massive roster of K-pop hits are written and produced by Black Americans, with considerable chunks of K-pop fandoms comprising Black individuals in the US, per the Guardian.

There have been countless cases of K-pop idols mouthing or saying the N-word, blackface and sporting hairstyles typically rooted in Black culture solely to look a certain way, thereby, reducing elements of an entire culture to aesthetic. That’s not all. Indian and Japanese fans have equally been offended over the years on numerous separate occasions.

K-pop fans furious on X

A user shared a lengthy thread on X, expressing discontent with KISS OF LIFE’s latest stunt and detailing why it was inexcusable. “

What Kiss of Life did is modern day blackface and cultural mockery. Dressing up as Black people like we’re Halloween costumes, while indulging in exaggerated stereotypes? This wasn’t accidental. They sat down, planned this, and got dressed,” the user began. In follow-up tweets, they added, ” Not only that they picked out the most stereotypical foods, and went live thinking it was a joke. That’s how you know anti-Blackness is so deeply ingrained that they don’t even see the issue, because to them, our culture is just entertainment and we’re a JOKE.

“This is exactly why people say K-pop has a racism problem. It’s not ‘just one member’ or ‘just one incident.’ It’s a repeated, unchecked pattern of disrespect toward Black people. It’s not a coincidence that the same group already had an n-word controversy. When people show you who they are, believe them.”

Although the S2 Entertainment girl group debuted in 2023, its fan-base significantly expanded following the now-viral hit single “Sticky,” which released last year. Members Julie, Natty, Belle and Haneul’s most recent album offering came out in the form of their third EP “Lose Yourself” in October 2024. They kicked off their first world tour “KISS ROAD” in 2024, which continues this year.




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