Korean pop group iKON, who recently returned with two new digital singles called "Anthem" and "Apology," shared their thoughts on the manipulation of music charts during a recent interview with Joy News 24.
Music chart manipulation, also known as "sajaegi," has been a hot topic in the K-pop world for a while now. Since their warm-up single back in September iKON has impressively dominated music charts. They have held first place on a number of digital platforms and even took home a few first places from music shows with their debut songs. This led to speculation that iKON and their company YG Entertainment were deliberately tampering with the system in iKON's favor.
"Since we weren't guilty it didn't bother me," member B.I shared with Joy News 24. "I thought that we would just impress those people with our album." The rumors sparked after the release of iKON's "My Type," "Rhythm Ta," and "Airplane." Their latest releases are also fairing quiet well, proving B.I's statement.
"We talked amongst ourselves after the rumors started. We decided not to get too hung up and keep doing music we wanted to do," member Donghyuk added.
The group continued to talk about the pressures they felt as a rookie group, "We thought we were undeserving of the love we received, but we're trying to keep a positive outlook." The group then promised fans that they would continue to demonstrate their growth as artists and provide the people who support them with good music.
"Anthem" and "Apology" were released on Nov. 15. Their debut full album, Welcome Back, will be released on Dec.14.
