P1Harmony’s Keeho Indirectly Addresses “Durag” Controversy

Fans debated whether it’s really cultural appropriation.
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P1Harmony are preparing to make their anticipated comeback on September 20 with their 7th mini-album, SAD SONG. The group has been teasing with several concept images and video teasers, including for the album’s title track.

Days before this, the group released a concept video titled “OUT OF CONTEXT ____,” featuring a track presumably from the album. The video showcases the group members assembling before undergoing an outfit change in a Sailor Moon-esque transformation.

The members changed into totally different outfits, consisting of oversized white T-shirts, scarves, baggy jeans, and chains.

OUT OF CONTEXT ____ 1-3 screenshot
From left: Intak, Keeho, Jiung | P1Harmony/YouTube
OUT OF CONTEXT ____ 1-15 screenshot
| P1Harmony/YouTube

A clip, primarily featuring Intak, was shared across social media, going viral as many discussed his look. While he is wearing a scarf tied to his head, many feel it imitates the aesthetic of a durag, a protective hair covering worn by Black people. This triggered a debate on whether this was a form of cultural appropriation. In the context of the video, with a hip-hop-heavy track playing, many fans had negative feelings.

During an interview with Zach Sang in 2022, Keeho went viral for claiming that cultural appropriation was on their minds when coming up with their concepts. This resurfaced in light of the debate, as some wondered how Keeho “allowed” this to happen.

I believe it’s a responsibility and I also feel like if you’re gonna have that big of a platform, you need to be able to respect and appreciate all cultures without appropriating them. Whenever it comes to our styling, our music, or whatever — it’s always a sensitive topic that we always have to think once, three times, four times about in every step of the way, visually or musically or the language itself. Obviously there’s AAVE and a whole bunch of other cultural stuff that is very sensitive and so we need to respect that, and I feel like it’s a responsibility to, so I feel like it’s something that we’re always thinking about and taking action about.

— Keeho

Many defended Keeho. Some pointed out that it is not his responsibility. Despite being the group’s leader, he does not have the power and control a manager or CEO would when making such decisions regarding concepts.

Now, Keeho has addressed the controversy in messages to his fans via the Fromm app. He explained that they had custom caps made for the concept, but when they came out too small, not everyone was able to wear them. So, some wore scarves instead.

Some of us wear caps, some don’t. Originally, everyone was supposed to wear caps. But the problem was the caps were custom-made, and they came out too small, haha. If you look closely, you can see the necklace pattern we used for ‘Killin’ It.’ The idea was for everyone to show that, but it became impossible, so we used scarves instead.

— Keeho

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| fromm via @p1hits/X

Keeho revealed he had tried the look before in one of his airport fashion fits and decided to recreate it. He also revealed that model Bella Hadid was the inspiration, saying it gave him a “pirate vibe.”

I even tried it out once at the airport, haha. I thought, what if we recreate that vibe? So we went with it. LOL. And the reference for that was actually Bella Hadid. HAHA. I’m not sure if that came across well… but everyone’s calling it a takoyaki look. 😀 It’s Bella Hadid, though. No, let me send you the photo I was looking at. Hold on. [Photo]. It has a bit of a pirate vibe, I guess? But now it’s being called takoyaki. 😅 LOL.  On set, everyone was saying I looked like Keeholla Hadid… Haha. So funny. But honestly, I don’t care, as long as p1ece like it, lol. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stories like this with the outfits… It’s hard to explain through text, so I’ll show you in a live stream next time. LOL.

— Keeho

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| fromm via @p1hits/X

P1eces have even resurfaced Keeho’s original iconic airport look.

So, now we know the inspiration behind P1Harmony’s recent styling. Keeho also indicated he might discuss it in more depth in a live broadcast.

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