4th Gen K-Pop Group's Slur-Filled Performance Goes Viral

Videos of TOP Media‘s five-member boy band MCND, consisting of Castle J, BIC, Minjae, Huijun, and Win, have resurfaced, and not for good reason.

Recently, a pre-debut performance by MCND garnered attention on TikTok. It’s taken from a fancam of their free Play to meet you! show on August 15, 2019, several months before their official debut on February 27, 2020.

The group did a dance performance to “Freaky Friday” by American rapper and comedian Lil Dicky and American singer-songwriter and rapper Chris Brown. The concept of the song is that Lil Dicky, who is Jewish, switched bodies with Chris Brown, a Black rapper. So, throughout the song, Lil Dicky, as Chris Brown, continually sings profanities and offensive language he would otherwise not say, such as the N-word. In MCND’s performance, the track plays, so they aren’t technically singing, but they appear to be mouthing the lyrics, including the offensive language.

Two clips went viral on TikTok with 2M and 1.6M views, respectively, at the time of writing. For many K-Pop fans, this was their first time hearing about this controversy.

@st6rbizarre

#kpop #mcnd

♬ original sound – @

@st6rbizarre

Replying to @✰ Vilix ⁸✰ ˖*°࿐ #fancam

♬ TOP GANG Vol.2 – MCND

Netizens were flabbergasted to see the idols cheerfully dancing and smiling while lipsyncing the problematic song. Many felt it was too unbelievable to be real, yet it is very real.

This wouldn’t be the first time that this video has resurfaced. On May 9, 2020, the video circulated, sparking criticism so much that TOP Media addressed it that same day. The company gave a brief explanation and apology via social media.

[Notice] It was brought to our attention that a performance by MCND prior to their debut had an instance where the members appeared to say an inappropriate and insensitive word.

— MCND_official (@McndOfficial_) May 10, 2020

We take these matters very seriously and have taken the necessary steps to educate our staff and members to be more sensitive and culturally aware.

— MCND_official (@McndOfficial_) May 10, 2020

At the time, the statement was met with mixed reactions. Some were pleasantly surprised the company addressed it at all, but many felt it was too problematic of a situation that occurred in the first place.