Newly debuted all-Japanese girl group XG is facing backlash after the group’s CEO allegedly made anti-Korean statements in an interview.
Although there were rumors that the group was made in collaboration with YG Entertainment, YG Entertainment has since stated the group has no connection with them whatsoever.
The group debuted on March 18, 2022, with their single “Tippy Toes,” performing the song live for the first time on Mnet. The group has since gained an impressive following, with their YouTube channel amassing over 400K subscribers.
Despite their songs being in English, the group’s social media is in Korean, and the group promotes mainly in Korea.
XG seemed they might succeed until a recent interview with the group’s CEO Masato Matsuura came to light, sparking outrage for his anti-Korean sentiments.
During an interview, the CEO emphasized that despite working with Korean producers, he was merely “using” them and rebuked the notion that XG was a K-Pop group.
QuoteJust because we are working with Korean producers don’t mean the group is working with a Korean label.
Everyone is Japanese. It isn’t like K-Pop. It’s more like American.
I am emphatically saying everyone is Japanese.
We worked with Korean producers, but we just used Korean producers. All rights belong to Avex.
— Matsuura Masato
The CEO then started going off on a tangent that turned the interview into a much more political one.
QuoteWhy do we have to lose to Koreans? The Japanese can do it also.
Even Koreans sent a singer like BoA to Japan to mimic us.
Since we were on the losing side, we asked to work with Korean producers, and we did it.
— Matsuura Masato
The contents of the now-deleted interview has gone viral in Korea, with media and news outlets picking up the story. Netizens expressed their anger in a viral post that has been viewed over 158K times on one of Korea’s largest internet communities.
One netizen wrote how XG played up their connection with YG, although they have none…
QuoteThey used to market themselves as YG’s rookie group but stopped when YG stated they have no connections to them, lol. This is how they attracted international K-Pop fans.
— Netizen
Another netizen wrote the irony of XG’s CEO distancing the group from K-Pop, although all of their socials are run by Koreans.
QuoteTheir Twitter is full of Korean… The fact they are trying to look like K-Pop when they want to beat Koreans is shameless and makes them look like they have no pride
