Stray Kids and Billboard recently had a collaboration for the boy group's fans, STAYs. The famous US-based music magazine tapped and had a talk with the JYP Entertainment group about their successes.
Unfortunately, things went sour after STAYs found "offensive" and "disrespectful" statement in the article.
STAYs Call For Magazine Boycott After Billboard Included 'Unnecessary' Statement in Article
In the latest Billboard article about JYP Entertainment's boy group, STAYs found "disrespectful" and "offensive" statement pertaining to Stay Kids. Fans express anger on various social media platforms as Billboard mentioned the bullying allegations of Stray Kids member Hyunjin.
The magazine wrote:
"Hyunjin - who was involved in a controversy related to bullying allegations and took a four-month hiatus from the group following a formal apology in early 2021."
STAYs argued that this part was unnecessary and irrelevant to the article. They said that mentioning it casually without any regard to Stray Kids members is disrespectful.
I'm so proud that STRAY KIDS has been on the cover, but extremely annoyed by the lack of professionalism of BILLBOARD to include topics that have already been clarified and denied, to people and groups that had nothing to do with and even compare them+#StrayKidsxBillboard pic.twitter.com/OlFqUSVnRV
— BIGBANG/SKZ (@VIPLOVESTAY) September 8, 2022
SKZ official Twitter not retweeting the Billboard article and NONE of the members mentioning it on bubble is sending a very clear message.
— Callie {★⁵ supremacy} (@minsungcuddles) September 8, 2022
Stays - keep tweeting at them that this was unacceptable! The boys deserve better. #StrayKidsXBillboard
Not only that, but the Billboard article also "stereotyped" STAYs as "teens and tweens," saying that the group's sold-out concert was watched by kids.
STAYs commented that K-pop fans being presumed as teenagers and kids is a misconception, and that it's rude to fans who are adults. Many STAYs also stressed that there are many college students and working individuals who like the boy group and K-pop in general.
Stays pls can we ⬆️views by watching on official yt vid of BB? Their interview here is worth taking the time than reading this article. Pls spread the link!
— pau 🌟🪽 (@skzhealer) September 8, 2022
1st vid: https://t.co/mYU3hkq2t4
2nd vid: https://t.co/aFhtjybo8V#StrayKids_BillboardCover#StrayKidsxBillboard https://t.co/ADvBQv11MQ pic.twitter.com/SL5mlMNlCv
Further, there are also parents and even grandparents who listen to K-pop, and the industry does not pose age restrictions.
Billboard 'Casually' Mentions BTS' Hiatus
Apart from the first two cases, Billboard also mentioned BTS' whole-group hiatus, and referred to it as Stray Kids' chance to become the No. 1 Korean boy group in the U.S.
"BTS, the group responsible for nearly one-third of all K-pop sales and streams in the United States over the past 18 months, recently pressed pause on group activities - the outfit had gone nonstop for a few years, and required military service loomed for some members - creating something of a void (at least temporarily) at the top of the genre."
Not only STAYs were offended, but ARMYs as well. For them, it meas that BTS can be overthrown and replaced anytime they are not active and will be forgotten by the fans.
Then, in the later part of the article, Billboard mentioned that BTS and Stray Kids' music are very different, so it nulls the prior statement.
Billboard said that BTS' hits have disco-inflected pop, while Stray Kids' music is more on the "rap, rock and electronica, exploring trap, G-funk, punk and even a little industrial."
What do you think of the situation?
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KpopStarz owns this article.
Written by Jaswin Singh
