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[ASKKPOP] Weekly Recap: hip-hop comeback, SNS beef, and Tao, oh, Tao

You may not believe it, but it is already the end of the week! Before we go march on chanting, "TGIF, TGIF!"let's see what happened this past week in the K-Pop world. Surprisingly, a lot more has happened than I thought as it was filled with new controversies, relationship blasts, and SNS brawl between idol and announcer.


Let's see if you've been keeping up with the latest K-Pop news!




Kwanghee and Sixth Man + Fall of Star Empire?


If you haven't yet heard aboutKwangheeand all the crazy controversy surrounding him andStar Empire Entertainment,you have definitely been living under a rock this week. Ever since Kwanghee was revealed to be the sixth man of 'InfinityChallenge,' netizens have expressed their discontent, going as far asstarting a petition against his appearance on the show.Talk about taking things to the next level.


There has been quite a ruckus as netizens suspected that Star Empire had something to do with their idol being chosen as the 'sixth man,' stating that the agency was behind the negative press about comedianJangDongMin, who was named the most suitable for the sixth man position... until he dropped out. Netizens have also said Kwanghee's affiliation to Star Empire Entertainment and close friendYewon(re: cursing controversy with Lee Tae Im) made him an unacceptable choice.


Further adding onto the malicious rumors,Kwanghee was reported to have been absent at the most recent filming for 'Infinity Challenge,'' causing the netizens to question whether or not the backlash had affected the producers' decisions. The article quoted a rep of Kwanghee who stated, "Kwanghee still has not received a call to film for the show. Today he is filming as the host forEBS' 'Best Secrets to Cooking'. His first filming for 'Infinity Challenge' is still undecided."


And then there were three…

FollowingYoona,Sooyoung,Tiffany, andTaeyeon(not in any order),Yuri was the next to have her relationship on blastleaving only three members of Girls' Generation as eligible bachelorettes.


At first, reports claimed that Yuri was in a relationship withHanshinTigers'OhSeungHwanwithout any pictures, stating that the two have been spotted together since last November. Then, when fans have demanded pictures as proof,Dispatch dropped multiple photos of the two togethersharing some sweet moments together. D'aww! Look at how happy she looks!


Return of the Unpretty

Following the heightened popularity of 'Unpretty Rapstar,' the female contestants, as well as MCSan E, hurried their way into making a comeback before the hype died down. First one up was San E who dropped one pre-release collaborative track prior to his full comeback album. Another track, featuringBaek Ye Rin, beat outJ.Y. Park's "Who's Your Mama?" Talk about team-kill forJYPE.



Fierce rapper,Jessi, just released her solo track, "I Want To Be Me." What's more meaningful about this surprisingly inspirational and honest track was that it highlighted her vocals more than her rapping skills. Mind you that she initially debuted as a singer, not a rapper.


AOA'sJiminis also infull gear for her sexy comeback, and it was revealed that she would be collaborating withN.Flying'sSeunghyubunder a sub-unit name,JNJ.


Meanwhile,Kisum, Lil'Cham, and JACE have dropped their teaser for a collaboration with SISTAR's Bora. The hype is definitely there.



Overseas Hallyu Love


Hallyu wave is still going strong asSuhoandJaejoongreceived much love from international fans, and it was all filmed on air! On this week's episode ofKBS'BounceIndo,'EXO's Suho was named as the best looking out of the cast(which includedChangmin,Jonghyun,Kyuhyun,Minho, andSunggyu). Really though, who cares who the best looking is? I'll take them all, thank you.


Jaejoong also received his share of love from international fans whenHannah Kirby from NBC's 'The Voice' revealed that she is absolutely in love with Jaejoong. Her Twitter response to a follower read, "Life goal: sing with him." Oh, honey, get in line.

Junsu's SNS beef with SBS announcer


At a peaceful opening ceremony for the Goyang International Flower Exhibition,JYJ'sJunsusang one of his most powerful numbers, "Loving You Keeps Me Alive," from the musical 'Dracula.' Everything with the world seemed fine until later that day whenJunsu took to Twitter to express his annoyance at the host MC of the event.


Apparently, MCPark Sang Do, who was also anSBSannouncer, was making some cheeky comments to Junsu and his fans. Honestly, the fact that the idol took to his personal social media to express his discomfort says it all, especially since he's not the one to easily get upset or take things to Twitter. Let's remember that it can only be considered a joke if everyone can laugh at it.


AnnouncerPark Sang Do later apologized for his comments, but for some reason his apology seemed a bit snarky! As a man with such a polite and gentlemanlike image, announcer Park Sang Do crossed too far beyond the line.


SM continues to struggles with their youngest sons, EXO


Tao's father says thathe no longer wants his son involved with SM Entertainment, or EXOfor that matter. While we were all busy reading up about about Lay creating his own workshop in China and his response to the questions on whether or not he will leave, Tao's father jumps into the party out of the blue andreveals that Tao agrees withhim. Reason for his leave? SM Entertainment was not taking care of his health as they should have. Korean netizens called major BS on Tao's father, and praised Victoria and Amber for their loyalty to the agency and their groups.


No furtherresponse from SM Entertainment was releasedother than the fact that they view this situation as "a shame" and that they "will seek a developed course to take through conversation and the like with Tao and his father."


Following Tao's father's statement,Lay went ahead and deleted all the pictures from his Instagram. If this isn't foreshadowing something awful, then it is just impeccable timing on Lay's part.


Other SM artist…

Jessica decided that she would go on an unfollowing spreewhere she literally unfollowed everyone not just onWeibobut also onInstagram. She is currently following not one person, nada, zip.


Fans were concerned about why she took such drastic measures and were revealed to have left sweet comments, but let's be honest here… it is just Instagram and Weibo. The girl is surrounded by people all the time! She can at least take a break on social media; it sounds much more liberating than anything.


Speaking of possible departures...


C-Clown'sRomeleft his fans devastated whenhe made suspicious changes and updates to his official SNS accounts. From changing his Instagram and Twitter username to@christianyu_and@neva4get_urselfrespectively and deleting all his pictures to updating his Twitter with, "I apologize to the fans , I really do! But I tried..I really did! It's jus (sic) too hard now ! Dw y'all."


This just adds on to the fact that although K-Pop idols are romanticized as these perfect human beings with flawless beauty and happy-go-lucky, stress-free lives, it takes hard work, dedication, and most importantly, a heart of steel to achieve their dreams.


Rome (Christian Yu) has yet to update his social media accounts since April 20.


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