South Korea’s national broadcaster KBS has banned (G)I-DLE‘s new single ‘Wife’ from broadcast on the network due to “sexually explicit” lyrics.
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The announcement was made earlier today (January 24), after KBS had conducted a review of the song’s eligibility for national broadcast after it was released on January 22. According to Yonhap News Agency, (G)I-DLE’s ‘Wife’ contained “many metaphorical lyrics with sexual nuances”, however neither the outlet nor broadcaster outlined specific details.
KBS also announced that (G)I-DLE’s upcoming song ‘Rollie’, which will be released on Friday (January 29) alongside their album ‘[2]’, has also been banned from broadcast due to product placement in its lyrics. Yonhap News Agency reported that “changing the lyrics [for both songs] may be inevitable” if the group or their label wish to promote these songs on KBS.
All other songs on ‘[2]’, including lead single ‘Super Lady’, have been deemed eligible for broadcast. The record will be (G)I-DLE’s first release of 2024, arriving about four months on January 29 after their first English EP ‘Heat’. That project was released in collaboration with 88rising and was led by the single ‘I Want That’.
Last year, the girl group also released the mini-album ‘I Feel’, which featured the hit single ‘Queencard’. The song was later named one of NME’s 25 Best K-pop songs of 2023.
The five-piece were also recently announced as part of the star-studded line-up of the Krazy Super Concert taking place on February 9 and 10 at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Other acts featured in the performing line-up include aespa, ZEROBASEONE, THE BOYZ, CL and more.
In a three-star review of the first Krazy Super Concert last year in New York, NME‘s George Yang called it an “an admirable first attempt”, describing the concert as “a fun time [that] wasn’t anything mind blowing”.
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