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On Thursday, September 21, following the announcement of KINGDOM's upcoming album release, History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan, the group's agency, GF Entertainment, released a preview of the album design, which upset a huge majority of fans. Many pointed out the album's uncanny similarities to the Quran, the religious text of Islam.
Fans were naturally enraged and disappointed with the album design due to its apparent Islamophobic conditions and disrespect to the religion and culture. After the concerns raised by netizens, GF Entertainment announced that pre-orders for the album would be postponed, most likely to change the album's design.
Fans angered with GF Entertainment's alleged Islamophobic album designs for KINGDOM's upcoming album release
The seven-member K-pop boy group debuted under GF Entertainment in 2021 and released its first EP, History of Kingdom: Part I. Arthur, in February of the same year. While many K-pop fans excitedly welcomed the group for its impressive lore-based discography and collectively cheered for its comeback, the preview of the album's physical copy offended and upset many.
The group's upcoming album, History Of Kingdom: Part VII. Jahan, which stands as its seventh mini-album, adopts an album design that shares uncanny similarities with the Islamic religious text, Quran, or Koran. As soon as the design surfaced on the internet, several Muslim fans of the group addressed the issue while expressing their displeasure and frustration.
With several fans continuously raising concerns about the album's design, the group's agency, GF Entertainment, soon responded with a statement. Here's what the statement read:
"Hello. This is GF Entertainment. First, I want to sincerely thank all of the fans for your love and interest in KINGDOM. The group's 7th mini-album, ‘History of Kingdom: Part VII. JAHAN,’ which was scheduled to be released today at 2 pm has been postponed due to internal circumstances.
"I’m sorry to inconvenience the fans with such sudden news regarding the change. We will let you know as soon as a new schedule is confirmed. Thank you."
However, many fans were still upset that the statement failed to apologize for its alleged offensive stance and cultural appropriation of the Islamic religion. The agency only apologized for the inconveniences caused by the sudden postponement and named the cause as internal circumstances rather than addressing the actuality of the issue, which further enraged fans.
In light of the issue, fans have also been anticipating that the controversial album design could be a marketing strategy to reel in more attention and audience.
Given that the seven-member group has been considerably underground compared to other K-pop groups and their comebacks, netizens speculate if the controversy was schemed by GF Entertainment, resulting in the lack of apology.
As fans and netizens continue to address the company's fault with the group's upcoming album, they also demand a proper apology statement to ease the offended mass.
