NewJeans just can’t seem to catch a break! Ever since the HYBE-ADOR feud erupted, they’ve been caught in the crossfire.
Now, both NewJeans and ILLIT are under intense scrutiny as HYBE and ADOR duke it out over management disputes.
Recently, there are some suspicions going around that NewJeans’ latest song, Bubble Gum, which was executive produced by Min Hee Jin, might have plagiarized a song by a British band.
Netizens are saying that the main melody sounds similar to Easier Said Than Done by the British band Shakatak, which came out in 1982. While official sampling would have been permissible, the lack of formal release and crediting has raised concerns.
The original singers of the song also chimed in when suspicions of similarity to ‘Bubble Gum’ arose. Shakatak, through their official account, responded to the plagiarism concerns by saying, “We’ll look into this. It is very similar.”
ADOR has yet to release a statement on whether or not Bubble Gum officially cleared to sample Easier Said Than Done.
On another note, despite all the chaos, NewJeans is still riding high on popularity. According to the official press release from HYBE, all the tickets for their 2nd fan meeting ‘Bunnies Camp 2024 Tokyo Dome‘ in Japan next month are completely sold out.
They’re going to perform at the iconic Tokyo Dome just 1 year and 11 months after their debut, breaking the record for the shortest time for an overseas artist.