Recently, EPEX dropped the group's third mini album 'Prelude of Anxiety Chapter 1: 21st Century Boys', and the music video of the album's title track 'Anthem of Teen Spirit'.
Shortly after the release, however, the concept and lyrics of the title track received heavy criticism from overseas K-pop listeners.
On this day, Nazi Germany smashed more than 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses and 267 synagogues; brutally murdering over 91 Jewish people.
The agency explained that the majority of the concept had been inspired by British author George Orwell's novel '1984', and that the concept has nothing to do with the Nazi dictatorship.
C9 Entertainment's full statement is as follows:
Hello, this is C9 Entertainment. This is our position on the controversy over the lyrics, music video, and costumes of EPEX's title song 'Anthem of Teen Spirit' in EPEX's 3rd EP Album 'Prelude of Anxiety Chapter 1: 21st Century Boys'.
The music, lyrics, and music video of EPEX are based on various literary works, films, and physics theories. Among them, many parts of this album were inspired by George Orwell's book '1984', published in 1949.
'Anthem of Teen Spirit' is a song that points out and warns of the harm caused by the robotized education system that Korean youths are experiencing.
In the lyrics, 'the night in the crystal' expresses the realistic life of teenagers, used as a metaphor for the images of children burning in competition in the windows of numerous academies that are lit up brightly like crystal every night, and another expression is from the 'glass paperweight' appearing in '1984'.
Also, in '1984', the main character's most precious 'glass paperweight' was broken when he was arrested by party members, so the words were combined and used in the lyrics.
It has absolutely nothing to do with actual historical events. It can also be clearly seen through the title name. (학원歌's literal translation is 'Academy Song')
The above expression was judged complacently as an element of metaphor, and the data was not checked more carefully and in detail.
We sincerely apologize to everyone in Korea and abroad for not paying attention to the use of controversial content.
We take full responsibility for the controversy that has arisen, and we apologize again to the many people who were offended.
Therefore, we would like to change some parts of the lyrics of 'Anthem of Teen Spirit', which were unintentionally misunderstood, as follows.
- The night in the crystal > Myself in the crystal
- Tonight, the crystals that protected us are shattered > The crystals that protected us are shattered, today, I will
- I see them burning raw > I see them running now
- Crystal night is coming > Crystal light is coming
The lyrics above have already been re-recorded, and we will change and register them with all music service companies around the world as soon as possible.
In addition, there are allegations that some part of the music video and costumes of 'Anthem of Teen Spirit' represent real historical events, but this is clearly not true.
All costumes and contents were expressed using the setting and lines of '1984' as a motif, and there is no connection with actual events, people, or groups.
Finally, the participated composers of 'Anthem of Teen Spirit' used different English lyrics for the demo song, which has nothing to do with the content of the final lyrics.
In the case of the lyricist, we have provided the story and keywords that we want to express in the lyrics and commissioned the work, so it is irrelevant to the intention of the lyricist.
The final lyrics of the song were written entirely in our opinion. We hope that misunderstandings about related composers and lyricists will not spread any further.
By taking this opportunity, we will be more careful and pay deep attention so that the music, lyrics, and music video of EPEX do not hurt anyone.
Once again, we sincerely apologize to everyone.
(Credit= C9 Entertainment, GettyImagesKorea, Yonhap News Agency, Online Community)
(SBS Star)