Amid popularity with "SPOT!" feat. Jennie, Zico wasn't able to fully celebrate as he faced 3 different controversies in a row.
After releasing the hit song, "SPOT!" on April 26, Zico has been enjoying a long reign on both local and international charts.
On the Circle Chart as of May 23rd, the digital single maintained its position as No.1 for 3 consecutive weeks on the streaming chart and No.1 on the digital chart for the first time this week.
On the US Billboard, it also showed a strong position after ranking 32nd in "Global 200" and 15th in "Global (Excluding the U.S.) as of the May 25 chart.
However, it is hard for Zico to celebrate with fans after being embroiled in three issues, including the "Burning Sun Gate" scandal.
Following BBC's documentary exposing Jung Joon Young and Seungri's role in the sexual exploitation through KakaoTalk GC, Zico is being mentioned for his past remark about Jung's "golden phone" in 2016.
At the time, he revealed that his friend had a spare phone that he only used for KakaoTalk and Jung added that Zico would visit his house and scroll through that 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
— 19.99, mina (@taesanwon) May 20, 2024
ALSO READ : ZICO, BLACKPINK Jennie's Song Stirs Korean Audience — Here's What Everyone's Talking About!
When the issue sparked, netizens assumed that the phone Jung used for his crimes was the same phone Zico had seen, but the Block B member refuted he was involved in the sexual assault case and explained that he only found the phone fascinating because it had a lot of contacts.
As people re-examine his connection to the "Burning Sun" scandal, another issue arose after Chinese netizens discovered a song he wrote in 2010 called, "If I Ain't Got Jjangae."
The song was a parody of Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You," and the song expressed his boredom as a trainee who could only eat Chinese food every day.
Seeing the lyrics, the Chinese were angered after realizing that he used racial slurs in the 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."
With these two issues, Zico's Instagram was being filled with hateful & malicious comments, calling him an ally of a sexual perpetrator and racist.
As if these are not enough, Zico is also facing the burden of responsibilities after establishing his label, KOZ Entertainment, home to the boy group, BOYNEXTDOOR.
At the end of 2023, it was reported that HYBE, its parent company, involved itself in replacing KOZ's board of executive directors.
HYBE did this after highlighting Zico's label scoring the lowest sales among its subsidiaries. One of the employees who was fired was CEO A, who has been working with the male idol for 10 years.
READ MORE : Zico Faces Public Backlash as BBC Eye Digs Deeper into Burning Sun Scandal — 'He's Suspicious!'
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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz
