In September 2018, the K-Pop world was shook when news of Hyuna was removed from her company (their label) at Cube Entertainment, along with her boyfriend E’Dawn, another artist at the company. Purportedly, they were kicked out because their label did not like that they were dating as well as other internal conflicts. For those who don’t know, Hyuna is one of the most known solo artists in K-Pop, with her music being lauded for taking risks and breaking an expected pure image of female artists by being sexy. She broke this mold and is now a stable in K-Pop for her unique sound. E’Dawn, who now goes by Dawn, was a member of the boy group Pentagon, and is known for his high-pitched rapping.
It’s not a new thing for companies in K-Pop to have dating bans, but sometimes they work with their artists to tell the public about their relationships. For example, JYP Entertainment worked with their own Jihyo from Twice when she started dating Kang Daniel. Cube Entertainment wasn’t as forgiving apparently. Hyuna and Dawn were dating for two years when they decided to go public in August 2018. They met before Dawn debuted in Pentagon, and even formed a trio with Pentagon’s leader Hui called Triple H while they were dating. Had they not gone public, they probably could’ve stayed at Cube Entertainment, but they didn’t want to lie to fans anymore.
After they were kicked from Cube Entertainment, they were signed to Psy’s label P Nation a few months later in January. This is the same Psy that made Gangnam Style when he was at YG Entertainment but eventually left that company to start his own label. In this new label, artists are able to have the freedom to express themselves however they want, whether it’s through their personal lives or artistic selves, they have the avenue to do it.
Hyuna and Dawn did something incredible on September 9th and came out with their own song, “Ping Pong” and EP 1 + 1 = 1, as a way to come back at Cube Entertainment saying that they couldn’t stop their love and they found a company where they are appreciated more. In “Ping Pong” they talk about how love is an adventure that they love experiencing together.
What’s remarkable about this song is how much fun the two of them have together performing it. It’s great to see them being so happy despite all the adversity that they faced because of their relationship. Hyuna maintains her position as a top-tier artist, while Dawn is starting to make a name of himself as an individual artist outside of Pentagon with his work now. However, I’m afraid that he might get dragged down because of the prominence of his girlfriend, adding an extra challenge to his career. I know he’ll be fine because he has enough star power to overcome it and any other challenges that may come his way.
Hyuna and Dawn aren’t the only couple in K-Pop to face such adversity because of their relationship, but they’re one of the few to actually capitalize on it and make something out of it like with “Ping Pong”. I hope that we see more out of them in the future, especially given their unique circumstances. I think that their story is quite an interesting one to tell, and it provides a lot for great music to come our way.