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On Wednesday, October 18, KINGDOM rolled out its seventh mini-album, History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan, and in order to commemorate the same, the group launched an album release event in Seoul.
While the grand showcase of the album not only gathered a great crowd and successfully progressed, the group members also took the opportunity to address the recent controversy concerning their alleged Islamphobic album design.
The group's first album design was heavily criticized by the internet for its uncanny similarities to the Quran, which many expressed as offensive and disrespectful to Islamic culture.
While the design was changed and an apology statement was released as they addressed their mistake, the KINGDOM members revisited the controversy to personally apologize to their Muslim fans who were hurt or upset by the album design.
The members Dann, who spoke on behalf of the members, stated:
It's important to note that our intent wasn't to disrespect the Islamic culture, but we weren't informed enough about it.
KINGDOM's leader, Dann, personally apologized during the group's comeback event for the recent controversy regarding their alleged Islamphobic album design
On September 21, KINGDOM's agency, GF Entertainment, released the album's first look of their seventh mini-album, History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan. However, it was immediately criticized and called out for its offensive and disrespectful design.
Many fans of the group pointed out that the album's design shared uncanny similarities with the religious Islamic text, the Quran, which naturally stood as a cultural appropriation and belittled the region's aspects.
However, the agency soon released a statement announcing the postponement of the album's pre-order sales and the redesign of its design due to the backlash it faced. The 70,000 copies of the album's first design were discarded and reproduced after redesigning the album, and fans were satisfied with the fast and appropriate response to the concerns they loudly addressed.
While much of the controversy settled down after GF Entertainment's quick actions, the KINGDOM members felt the responsibility to address the issue personally. As the group's representative, Dann, the leader, talked about their obliviousness to the issue and their sincere apologies for their ignorance.
We were midway through our North American tour at the time and learned about the controversy through social media. It was completely unexpected as we were ignorant about the issue. It's important to note that our intent wasn't to disrespect the Islamic culture, but we weren't informed enough about it.
He continued:
We sincerely apologize to all Muslims who might have been hurt by this. As a team that aims to reinterpret and showcase cultures around the world through our music, we commit to giving thoughtful consideration to the concepts we use in the future and will strive to prevent such misunderstandings from occurring again.
Dann also added that since he lived in Dubai for about ten years, he personally called up and apologized to his friends there for the controversy that resulted from their album design.
Following the group's continuous and sincere apologies, fans have shifted their attention to their revised album, which holds several intriguing and impressive tracks.
