“I’m really hoping the kids didn’t really understand what they were singing about…”

R U Next?, BELIFT Labs‘ latest survival show, first aired on June 30, and with 10 episodes total, the series is half over at this point. With 22 contestants total, the show boasts a diverse group of Korean, Japanese, and Thai competitors, though they’ve already come under some scrutiny for the very young ages of some of them.

The youngest contestant, Ena, is just 12 years old, while nine of the others are under the age of 18, including six 15-year-olds.

And if having such young teens competing on a reality show in such a harsh and cutthroat industry isn’t controversial enough, viewers have found some of the performances including the underage contestants to be inappropriate.

On the third episode of R U Next?, seven of the contestants — Yewon (18), Wonhee (15), Jeemin (18), Ruka (18), Moka (18), Funa (21), and Haseul (15) — put on a performance of Chungha‘s song “Dream of You” for the heel choreo mission. It’s a clearly suggestive song that includes the lyrics “Your body keeps me awake/But I say nothing, and you say nothing“ and “All night long ’cause I’ll keep you so turned on/So now no more games, come through”.

Viewers understandably felt uncomfortable to learn that a group of contestants including two 15-year-olds were performing such a song, especially since the dance itself is also fairly mature.

It’s not the only performance netizens are criticizing, either. Another group of girls — Hyewon (17), Iroha (15), Yunah (19), Chanelle (20), Youngseo (17), Jeongeun (18), and Jihyun (18) — put on a show of Lisa‘s “Money” for the hip-hop mission. While not as overtly suggestive as “Dream of You”, the song still includes the lyrics “Twerking, twerking when I buy the things I like/Dollar, dollars dropping on my ass tonight”. And along with these lyrics, the choreography included plenty of twerking.

The topic of whether these songs are inappropriate for the contestants of R U Next? came up on Reddit, and has led to a discussion about it. Titled “Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are inappropriate for minors?”, the author shares their discomfort for the above performances.

Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
by u/Horror_Train_6950 in kpopthoughts

And overall, it seems that most people seem to agree with them, based on the top-voted comments on the post.

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by u/meanyoongi from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
in kpopthoughts

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by u/Horror_Train_6950 from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
in kpopthoughts

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by u/MelissaWebb from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
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by u/Budget-Highlight5470 from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
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by u/Ma1read from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
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Viewers just can’t understand why the producers of the show can’t choose any other songs besides the ones that ended up being picked. There are so many great K-Pop songs to choose from, it doesn’t seem like it should be hard to find something more age-appropriate.

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by u/dc_al_coder from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
in kpopthoughts

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by u/TigRaine86 from discussion Am I the only one that thinks the songs in Hybe’s survival show “R U Next” are Inappropriate for minors?
in kpopthoughts

How do you feel about underage trainees performing suggestive songs and dances on reality shows such as R U Next??