Fans rain insults on K-Pop icon
Do not tick off fans, especially K-Pop fans.
If they can protest big entertainment companies, they can easily marshal their numbers against one artist.
Even if that artist is iconic like Rain.
Fans had turned up for KCON LA, an annual K-Pop convention in Los Angeles, US, held from Aug 18 to 20 this year, with groups like The Boyz and Itzy in the line-up.
Rain was set to perform on the second day.
You’d think people would have been excited to see the handsome South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer and actor who achieved international stardom with his third Korean album, It's Raining (2004).
Instead said one K-Pop fan after his set was announced in June, "Going to KCON for the sole purpose of throwing tomatoes at him.”
His crime? His alleged mistreatment of the Korean boy band Ciipher.
Rain is the CEO of Rain Company, which manages the group.
Since their debut in 2021, the group has released only two albums before entering a hiatus period with no releases to date. They initially had seven members, but four left the group earlier this month, leaving only Hwi, Hyunbin and Keita, reported AsiaOne.
Fans of MBLAQ, another boy band Rain formed in 2009 under J. Tune Entertainment, added how he "abandoned" the group too despite their popularity at the time.
"He literally treats them (the groups) like pets he takes care of for a month and then gets bored and abandons them, and he's not even embarrassed," said one fan on social media platform X.
Other fandoms started planning an organised “black ocean” under the hashtag #JusticeforCiipher on X after fans of Ciipher and MBLAQ highlighted the matter.
A “black ocean" is when the audience intentionally disrupts an artist's performance by turning off their lightsticks, leaving the stadium dark and silent.
One user on X wrote on Aug 12, “When Rain is on stage, lightsticks off. Black ocean. He ruined the dreams of these boys and he will know that's not okay."
it's all his fault. he didn't promote them. ciipher did all their best as an artist. it was rain who said that he created them because he wanted to give them another chance in their dreams. but what happened? he ruined it. so he didn't do all he could to make them succeed + pic.twitter.com/v4a0TuEAvZ
— rissa (@taegyunsheart) August 10, 2023
While the success of the black ocean was uncertain, videos of him getting booed after he left the stage went viral, with one racking up over a million views on TikTok, reported AsiaOne.
According to audience members and Korean media, fewer lightsticks were turned on during Rain's performance and the crowd was silent, compared to other performers.
"Lightsticks off, mother****ers! Turn them off!" yelled one audience member.
person at kcon yelling lightsticks off motherfuckers just before rain was about to go on stage pic.twitter.com/Yj7OUAbxUa
— . (@13fiIes) August 20, 2023
One fan even held up their middle finger while Rain performed.
If you are seen to be flippant about people, people may flip you off - literally.
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