*Ok-Pop stars BTS are going through backlash following the discharge of an animated teaser for his or her new album “Arirang,” with viewers criticizing how the video portrays Howard College, a traditionally Black establishment.
The teaser attracts on a big historic connection. In 1896, seven Korean college students at Howard College grew to become the primary to document Korean voices and music in the USA. Anthropologist Alice Fletcher documented conventional songs, together with “Arirang,” at her Southeast Washington D.C. house, per WJLA. The video presents a contemporary reimagining rooted within the cultural weight of these early recordings.
The animation reveals BTS acting on Howard’s campus, with the Founders’ Library looming within the background The imagery hyperlinks the group’s fifth studio album to that recording session and its place in each Korean and American cultural historical past.
From The Yard to the world stage 🌍🎶
Lengthy earlier than international fandoms and viral choreography, Howard College was already shaping cultural trade. In 1896, Korean college students introduced the sounds of “Arirang” to campus… a second that might echo throughout historical past.
At this time, that very same… pic.twitter.com/EpezL4rxOD
— Howard College (@HowardU) March 20, 2026
On-line backlash has been robust. Commenters took difficulty with crowd scenes exhibiting few Black college students on a traditionally Black campus, arguing that the visuals ignore the very group the college was created to serve.
BigHit Music described the video as a technique to introduce international audiences to the tune’s cultural and emotional significance. “We wished to share the story behind ‘Arirang’ with listeners who is probably not accustomed to it,” the company mentioned, The Korea Occasions reported.
In an X publish, Howard college wrote: “Lengthy earlier than international fandoms and viral choreography, Howard College was already shaping cultural trade. In 1896, Korean college students introduced the sounds of “Arirang” to campus… a second that might echo throughout historical past. At this time, that very same spirit reveals up in Ok-Pop’s international rise, the place Black music, type, and efficiency proceed to affect the sound and motion of a worldwide phenomenon. That is greater than a second… it’s a reminder that tradition travels, connects, and evolves. And at Howard, it at all times has.”
The publish linked to the complete story on The Dig.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Which Cesar Chavez Shall be Remembered?
Join our Free day by day publication HERE
