ATEEZ Faces Backlash for Singing “The Curry Song”

Members of the KQ Entertainment boy group ATEEZ are facing criticism after they were caught singing “The Curry Song.” The song became a massive hit in Korea when Norazo released it 10 years ago, but it has been criticized for its offensive lyrics and dance moves that mock Indian cultures.

“The Curry Song” features harmful assumptions and stereotypes of South Asian people. In the MV, one of Norazo’s members can be seen wearing brownface while singing the lyrics, “Shanti, Shanti, I love hot curry” and imitating a traditional South Asian dance.

On July 8, Idol Radio released a behind-the-scenes video from the radio broadcast starring ATEEZ in which San and Yunho were shown dancing to and singing Norazo’s controversial hit. The video is no longer on YouTube, but a fan managed to preserve it on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Seonghwa mentioned “The Curry Song” when he was asked to name three food-related songs on 1N2D.

ATEEZ’s agency KQ Entertainment released an apology for what happened on Idol Radio, but as of this writing, they have yet to acknowledge Seonghwa’s mention of “The Curry Song” on 1N2D. Idol Radio also issued an apology.

ATEEZ isn’t the first K-pop group to get caught up in a controversy involving “The Curry Song. On July 13, 2020, PLEDIS Entertainment boy group SEVENTEEN released an episode of their variety show GOING SEVENTEEN. In it, the group’s 13 members participated in challenges and games for their fans, referred to as Carats. During a mock audition for a singing competition, member Wonwoo sang a song that Korean fans instantly recognized as “The Curry Song.”

Before that, in April 2020, the SEVENTEEN members sang the same song in an episode of INSIDE SEVENTEEN. In that episode, all 13 members visited an Indian restaurant in North America while on tour and sang “The Curry Song” as they sat down to eat there. After these incidents, South Asian Carats voiced their concerns on social media.

On July 15—two days after the GOING SEVENTEEN episode was released—Norazo‘s Jobin wrote a lengthy letter of apology to global K-Pop fans, saying Norazo didn’t intend to offend anyone when they recorded and released the song.

(Featured Image: ATEEZ backstage at their recent Taipei show. Source: Twitter/ATEEZ’s official Twitter account)