Some think he’s trying too hard.
GHOST9‘S Prince is gaining attention again for his viral videos.
GHOST9 is a boy group made up of 7 members Maroo entertainmentcomposed of Junhyung, Shin, Kangsung, JunseongPrinceWoojin, AND Jinwoo. Most members were initially introduced via Shuffle nine AND Produce X 101, while the group officially debuted on September 23, 2020, with their first mini-album, BRINGS. You might even remember them from Rush hour.
Prince gained a following after creating content and sharing it on his group’s social media accounts and his personal Instagram.
He often goes viral for his series of videos in which he cooks food in his rehearsal room “behind his manager’s back” while joking as if his manager is too busy reading Webtoons to care. Many of his videos also contain roasting his company.
Netizens sometimes forget that Prince is an idol due to his “baffling” online content. However, he has also introduced many to GHOST9 as his videos often go viral with millions of views on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, reaching non-fans.
Prince appears to have started a new series where he visits Korean convenience stores to eat “cheap meals” with his company card. Both videos have garnered millions of views.
Many of the comments on the videos were similar to Prince’s rehearsal room cooking series. Some have confessed that they follow GHOST9 for Prince and that its contents “save” the group as they are highly underrated.
Despite the positivity on Instagram and TikTok, the video has been circulating on X (formerly Twitter), sparking criticism, as it has garnered over 8 million views at the time of writing there. Some netizens found Prince’s content “cringe-inducing”, criticizing him by claiming he was trying too hard to be relatable and funny.
Kpop idols trying to act relatable is the hardest watch ever, oh my god https://t.co/QXYa4ZLqtS
— sunoojzg (@sunoocvnt) December 31, 2024
2018 was almost a decade ago https://t.co/VtIZv49Qiv pic.twitter.com/AFC5c2Bsaa
— Ms. Gonercka (@binaural_test) December 31, 2024
nothing brings my mood down faster than kpop idols trying to be funny https://t.co/Uw2twvXUQn
— Lin (@tifasbf) January 2, 2025
However, many netizens have come to Prince’s defense, praising him for his “brilliant” and low-key marketing of GHOST9.
you wonder why kpop isn’t fun anymore and then go drag this man for literally doing nothing other than trying to promote his group with stupid vlogs https://t.co/FxXGSuxTli
— Maple is killing the Romeo (@shenlinedion) January 1, 2025
I don’t know how unpopular an opinion this is, but it’s actually genius, low-effort marketing (which is also hard for big companies to replicate) https://t.co/qXKqGgR3fh
— giant (@tothisemptiness) December 31, 2024
the quotes were so weird as if kpop fans could be personality dictators. he grew up in Thailand so obviously he won’t just speak Korean and play with your weird k-oppa fantasy, you stupid hoaxes https://t.co/fjJHcV3qs1
—Yammi (@sighyam) January 1, 2025
Netizens believe the root of the criticism is xenophobia, as it has become increasingly common for English-speaking idols to be criticized for their content online. Prince speaks Thai (his native language), English, Chinese and Korean.
if he spoke korean, you’d call it peak comedy, let’s be honest here https://t.co/qYhdvUPFOb
— smile.g hater (@orenjigeol) January 1, 2025
Kpop fans once again demonstrate their hatred for English speaking idols, you hate it when idols try to be relatable but a non-English speaking idol quotes a super popular meme and you all say “OMG CHRONICLY ONLINE KING” https: //t.co /XUSbyzDoTH
— alter ego (@yunjeanpink) January 1, 2025
the thing is, you would all eat it if it were in korean https://t.co/rvX1aMsYkT
— ❀ give away (@piwluvon) January 1, 2025
P1 Harmony‘S Other and soloist Alexaboth native English speakers, they both experienced similar reactions and talked about it during live broadcasts.
“I would say the most popular things and you guys would say, oh he’s so chronically online. honey, I have a phone and wifi, I was born with the Internet” okay keeho 😭🤣 #P1Harmony #P1Harmony #sign pic.twitter.com/hZjHiB9QSF
—angela (@p1hits) December 10, 2024
I come back to this video every time you say Chan is cringe or corny as if Alexa is right about why you treat English speaking idols this way pic.twitter.com/QBiFMATmSp
— Eric Foreman (@skzyeol) July 31, 2024
Read more about Prince’s viral videos below.
The fourth generation K-Pop idol faces getting fired and insults his company