On October 18, group KINGDOM has made their second comeback this year with their 7th Mini Album "History of Kingdom: Part VII Jahan" the final installment in the History of Kingdom series.
The title song 'COUP D'ETAT' is an impressive song with a danceable beat sound that first reveals Kingdom's masculine beauty. The story is that the Lord of Darkness, who wants to grow stronger and dominate the world, has even taken the heart of the sun, and seven kings stage a coup against the forces of darkness and bring light to the world.
'COUP D'ETAT' MV
For the release of the new album, the group held a media showcase performing songs and answered questions.
KINGDOM’s concept is to include the cultures of various countries. With Season 1, the epic album saga has been completed, and Louis said,
"We prepared albums alternately between East and West, and as each album went by, we aimed for a little more popularity. Starting from the first album, we continued to gradually focus on adding popularity. In Season 2, “We will make further improvements and achieve better results.”
In this album, masculinity is further emphasized. Jahan said, “The important point is that I paid attention to the low voice and managed it by exercising,” and Dann said, “As soon as the filming was over, Jahan ordered and ate chicken on the spot.” He also added, “Also, if the chorus section had been expressed in a high voice for masculinity, it would have been better to express it in a high voice.” “This time, I emphasized it in a low tone,” he said.
Due to the controversy of the album cover resembling the design of the Islamic holy book Qur'an, the difficult decision to discard, redesign, and reprint the album was made.
In response they said they were on a North American tour at the time. "We saw the controversy on social media that day. We didn't even know about it. One thing I want to say is that it wasn't that we didn't respect Islam, but that we didn't know much about it. We were hurt. “I’m sorry to the people. As we are a team that reinterprets world culture through K-pop, we will be more careful.”
Among the members, there is one who has lived in Dubai for 10 years. Dann said, "I lived in Dubai for 10 years. Since Dubai is a Muslim country, many of my friends were Muslim. My friends were worried about this album and contacted me. They said, 'I don't think that way (about your actions).' “To be really honest, I saw the album cover late and didn’t realize it was the Qur'an. I apologize again to the people who were hurt by this.”
KINGDOM is quite popular internationally. The group has been chosen as the models of the American snack brand K-Snacks which is available in stores in the United States since October.
Listen to "History of Kingdom: Part VII Jahan"
Source 1