PLAVE — Virtual to Reality

As part of the performers of the South Korean pop music industry, some went as either a group, or solo. Producing kinds of music from various genres with fitting choreography and visual concepts to reach out and entertain their audience. And to reach out to a wider range of audience and fans, PLAVE take their concept to a whole new world.

Source photo by kompasiana

Debuting on 12 March 2023 under VLAST with their first album called Asterum, PLAVE went with their first unique concept as a virtual K-Pop group. Instead of doing a live performance physically like other K-pop groups, they instead went as virtual characters. Using the digital media to their utmost in the entertainment world and mixing it with reality and imitating idol’s usual activity of performing, attending shows, to even collaborations. Even as they challenge the norm of K-Pop groups, PLAVE proves that technology didn’t bind them as a group idol. Technology helps to broaden the view of virtual idols and break those boundaries, spreading their uniqueness. Whether it be livestream or on stage performance, PLAVE can interact with their audience and fans just like any other in real time. Their virtual identity is one of the most important aspects that helps to create a flexible banter, even though they can’t approach freely in any form. Thus why their identity behind the screen must be kept as a privacy.

Months after their debut, a controversy and rumour struct PLAVE, specifically aimed at their member named Eunho, the main rapper of PLAVE. Some fans claimed that they discovered the past and real identity of Eunho behind the screen as a former K-Pop idol and an underground rapper with several solo mixtapes. Between those mixtape, there is a song with the title “Bch” under his name, which the claimers believe to contain misogynistic content within the lyrics and the word within the title itself exist in some of the other mixtapes. Within the song, the title “Bch” is used to describe this one attractive woman, using her for different scenarios. A few of them such as to pay for her own meals and terrorizing the attractive woman, done by a stalker of hers.

Photo source by allkpop

Considering PLAVE as a boy group consisting of female as their major supporter and fans, this soon draws a backlash and protest once the rumour got viral, which lead to another rumour of Eunho getting fired, but soon gets denied by their agency, VLAST, by issuing a warning against spreading false information and digging further into each talent’s identity and past after the person behind the character Eunho wrote an apology as a clarification that the mixtapes was a result of his younger self’s writings.