Despite the success of “SPOT!”featuring Jennie, Zico was unable to fully enjoy it due to facing three consecutive controversies.
Since dropping his hit track, “SPOT!”on April 26, Zico has been dominating the top spots of both local and international music charts.
The digital single has held onto its top spot on the streaming chart for 3 consecutive weeks and has also reached No.1 on the digital chart for the first time this week, as shown on the Circle Chart dated May 23rd.
Despite ranking 32nd on the “Global 200″chart and 15th on the “Global (Excluding the U.S.)”chart as of May 25, the US Billboard still displayed a strong position.
Despite being involved in three issues, including the “Burning Sun Gate”scandal, Zico finds it difficult to celebrate with fans.
In the wake of BBC’s documentary revealing Jung Joon Young and Seungri’s involvement in the sexual exploitation scandal through KakaoTalk group chats, Zico has resurfaced in discussions due to a comment he made in 2016 regarding Jung’s “golden phone.”
During that time, he disclosed that his friend possessed an extra phone solely for KakaoTalk usage. Jung also mentioned that Zico would frequently come over to his place and browse through that particular phone.
Why would zico brought up the phone on national television if its has those nasty videos unless he want to end his own career. JJY keep exaggerating by imitating zico but he said he didn’t do as such. There’s multiple articles about this in 2019 when netizen bring up this 2016… pic.twitter.com/MbJ21ClOIg
— HOW’s mina (@taesanwon) May 20, 2024
As the controversy arose, many netizens speculated that the phone Jung used for his crimes was the same one that Zico had mentioned. However, the Block B member denied any involvement in the sexual assault case and clarified that he had only found the phone intriguing due to its large number of contacts.
Upon further scrutiny of his involvement in the “Burning Sun”scandal, another matter came to light when Chinese internet users uncovered a 2010 song he had written titled “If I Ain’t Got Jjangae.”
The song, a parody of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,”conveyed his discontent as a trainee who was limited to eating Chinese food every day.
Upon reading the lyrics, the Chinese people were filled with anger when they discovered that he had included derogatory language based on race in his lyrics.
“I hate jjanggae// I’m full again today// but I’m not full at all//I feel bloated//I’m going to become Chinese.”
Despite facing two serious issues, Zico’s Instagram continued to be flooded with hateful and malicious comments accusing him of being an ally of a sexual perpetrator and being racist.
Additionally, Zico is also shouldering the weight of responsibilities as the founder of his own label, KOZ Entertainment, which is home to the boy group BOYNEXTDOOR.
In late 2023, news surfaced that HYBE, the parent company of KOZ, had intervened in the replacement of the latter’s executive board.
After discovering that Zico’s label had the lowest sales among its subsidiaries, HYBE took action by terminating some employees. Among those fired was CEO A, who had been managing the male idol for a decade.
Leave a Reply