Content warning: This article discusses racism, repeated use of the N-word, self harm related incidents, hate groups and references to harm against Black people.
The K-Pop industry has a long history of borrowing from Black culture, utilizing our language and aesthetics, working with Black producers and songwriters, while naming Black artists as key inspiration. However, these inspirations are often used as a concept for comebacks while the industry simultaneously disrespects the Black community.
Black K-pop stans have pointed out these issues before on numerous occasions. Whether it’s an idol saying the n-word, wearing braids, performing in blackface or misusing African American Vernacular English (AAVE) to fit a “hip-hop” look. The criticism Black stans give is often met with pushback, with some fans claiming that Black fans are “too sensitive” or that hip-hop and R&B doesn’t exclusively belong to the Black community.
Appropriation vs. Appreciation: The Industry Standard
Idols, whether debuting from the Big 4 companies like Hybe, JYP, SM and YG or smaller companies, have faced criticism over the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. One of the main conflicts between Black stans, non-Black stans and idols is the usage of the n-word. This debate has been the main topic that divides the K-pop community, especially when the conversation is about holding an idol accountable if the video was in the idol’s past.
When a fan shares a video of an idol using the n-word, the comment section is often filled with either disappointment in the idol or defenses claiming that the idol didn’t know the meaning of the word or already apologized for saying it. This raises a critical question: should Black fans continue to hold idols accountable for their past actions.
In my opinion, any idol who has said the n-word at any point of their career needs to be held accountable by all fans, especially by Black fans. What isn’t excusable is allowing an idol to avoid accountability for their actions. With doing so it creates a recurring cycle of disrespecting the Black community, apologizing, fans accepting the apology then moving on until something equally harmful happens again.
Weaponized Harassment in Fandom Spaces
Unfortunately, within the toxicity of K-pop stan culture, it can be difficult for Black fans to express disappointment in an idol without facing immense scrutiny, including death threats.
One example is a 2021 weverse incident involving former ENHYPEN member, Heeseung, now known as Evan. Evan faced controversy in June 2021 by fans for allegedly saying the n-word to SZA’s song ‘Love Galore.’ There was a divide in response in the fandom, Engenes, if Evan truly said the slur.
A Black engene expressed her disappointment in Evan but instead of receiving support, she was met with scrutiny. In defense of the former member, some Engenes took to the platform weverse and posted photos of Black people being lynched alongside racist messages targeting Black Engenes
On a twitter space titled “Black Engene’s Space,” the engene discussed the harassment she had experienced and made statements indicating she was considering suicide. It remains unconfirmed what happened following the space. However, the incident has raised renewed concerns about cyberbullying and harmful behavior within the fandom.
Black fans aren’t able to critique an idol without receiving racist remarks from people in the same fandom space. Moments like this show how non-Black fans can accept an idol being allegedly wrong while lashing out at others for offering criticism.When a fandom isn’t also being held accountable, that moment can taint a group’s image for everyone, including potential new fans.
Selective Accountability and Global Dominance
One of the main groups in K-pop that has an extensive resume of being problematic is BTS. From saying the n-word and making colorist remarks to supporting a celebrity with a history of being domestically violent to women, BTS have contributed the most to this conversation.
BTS and their fandom ARMY, have received criticism over the group’s past controversies andthe fandom’s toxic behavior. In March 2026, the group received mixed reactions to their recent album ‘ARIRANG’ which which explores the group’s Korean roots and references the story of Korean students attending Howard University in 1896.
The group released an animated series depicting the arrival of the Korean students. However, some Howard University students argued that the series completely whitewashed the HBCU campus. Other students noted that the group didn’t have malicious intent, pointed at BTS’s past efforts to learn about Black culture. In 2014, the group had a reality series called “American Hustle Life” where the group traveled to Los Angeles to learnabout hip-hop and Black culture.
Listeners raised several critiques regarding the album, including its use of traditional Korean title but having majority of the title tracks be in English as well as an overuse of international producers and experimental sounds. Some fans defended the release, arguing that the album was intended for a global audience while allowingthe group to experiment with new genres and honor itsroots.
BTS has become one of the biggest names to come out of the K-pop industry, more primarily for the group’s upbringing. Originally not being accepted by the K-pop industry, the group turned their sound and attention to focus on hip-hop with some of the members explaining that they love the genre. When it comes to this group a lot of opinions are talked about, mostly about their sound.
The group’s core identity stems from hip-hop, which is a genre heavily rooted in Black culture. Disrespecting the community that built the genre you claim to love by saying — the n-word, adopting blaccents and performing caricatures of Black people doesn’t make you a part of the culture. Simply understanding hip-hop’s structure and history to make a “digestible” version doesn’t make the music “true hip-hop.”
BTS remains one of the few groups that can navigate controversies with minimal fallout, mainly due to their massive global success. They gained a dedicated audience who’ll defend their actions, past or present, leaving the group immune to consequences as some fans put their morals aside to protect their idol.
While BTS’s roots are grounded in hip-hop, their early career choices often relied on ignorance, mockery and caricatures of Black people to build an image.
Caricatures and PR Apology Cycles
Ignorance in this industry isn’t uncommon especially when it comes to K-pop rappers. One example would be the birthday live of Julie from KISS OF LIFE (KIOF). In April 2026, Julie and the rest of her members hosted an old school hip-hop themed birthday party. The theme of the party seemed harmless but, the party didn’t honor hip-hop culture. Instead the group decided to play into stereotypes of the Black and Hispanic community by wearing oversized clothing, snapback hats, using aave, wearing cornrows and speaking in blaccents.
During this time in April, there was a surge of resurfaced videos of idols saying the n-word including Julie which was addressed by the company and herself not long after the group debuted. Black and Hispanic fans/non-fans of the group voiced their disapproval of the live stream and demanded accountability.
S2 Entertainment released a statement apologizing to the fanbase, stating that hip-hop culture is a musical inspiration to the group and removed the content from all official channels. The apology wasn’t well reciprocated by fans and wanted the members to also apologize.
The group ended up facing a lot of backlash following the loss of over 200,000 followers and being released from the KCON LA lineup. Soon later the group wrote an hand-written apology in English with each of the members writing a paragraph. Many fans still didn’t accept their apology due to the members officially taking responsibility once it affected their scheduled activities in the states.
Julie went on an instagram livestream on May 31st, 2025, addressing the situation directly. What made the apology ironic to many fans was its timing, occurring just a week before the group’s first comeback on June 9th since the controversy.
Yet, the ongoing debate whether K-pop idols deserve an immediate second chance mainly misses one detail: the people telling Black fans to move on are rarely a part of the demographic being disrespected. They’ve never had to watch their culture and aesthetic being used as a trend after being historically looked down upon by society.
There’s always going to be an idol who’ll unknowingly say or do something, but what makes it worse is when a respected idol wears a symbol that represents hatred against Black Americans.
On June 23rd, 2026 former NCT member Mark Lee was spotted wearing a Confederate flag shirt. The Confederate flag is viewed differently to everyone, to Black people, the flag is commonly viewed as a symbol of racism, oppression, slavery and racial terror. The flag was heavily used by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as a representative of white supremacy, racial segregation and violence against the civil rights movement.
The KKK was a white supremacist hate group that targeted Black people with violence including lynching.
When the photo circulated around the internet, fans were rightfully shocked and disgusted with Mark. In addition to it, fans held Mark to a higher standard due to him being born in Canada. Mark was a well liked and highly praised member of all his groups and fans were sad to hear of his departure from the groups earlier this year.
When it comes to Black fans expressing disapproval for an idol’s proven ignorance, they’re met with the same comments. Why do Black people think that idols should know everything about their culture?
Mark’s new company, Upper Room, released a statement claiming that the shirt was a vintage piece and didn’t know the cultural significance of the flag. The company stated once they figured out the meaning of the flag they tried to prevent the photo from being uploaded however the photo still made its way onto the internet.
Mark commented on the controversy August 21st and apologized via instagram live. However, on Twitter, the apology received mixed reactions after Mark claimed he knew the meaning of the flag, stating the situation should have never happened and did not reflect the type of person he is.
Profiting Off the Sound, Erasing the People
There’s a very common pattern when it comes to K-pop and Black culture, the industry uses Black culture, aesthetic and language to sell an image. That image being appreciation towards the culture and trends while simultaneously disrespecting their creators with almost every waking moment.
Both idols and fans silence Black voices and disregard their perspective and it’s not a secret. They love the idea of a Korean idol pulling inspiration from a Kendrick or ASAP Rocky song, but when it’s brought to their attention that they should listen to the actual artist then the conversation turns into “Black people don’t own rap or R&B.”
Culture Without the Respect
As a dedicated K-pop stan and an active member on Howard University dance team 1 Of A Kind (1OAK) my love for the genre is deep. My playlist consists of groups like P1harmony, Monsta X, ITZY and Red Velvet on a daily basis but I can’t ignore how this industry operates. It’s proven that this industry views black artists as a blueprint. They’ll examine and analyze their craft, produce a carbon copy of that sound, feed it to their audience and profit off it without crediting those same Black artists.
The majority of K-pop stems from Black culture, yet many idols and fans refuse to respect Black culture or Black fans. The money hungry mindset of using Black producers, songwriters, choreographers and artists will never end.
Why? Because everyone loves Black culture without respecting or loving Black people.