Black Ocean At KCON? K-Pop Fans Plan The Ultimate Protest Of An Artist

Lightsticks are a massive part of the fan experience, and their usage at shows is also special for the artists.  When K-Pop idols perform, they can expect to see an “ocean” of light from the lightsticks that fans hold, showing them support.

???? WOOOAH LOOK AT THIS NEO PEARL CHAMPAGNE OCEAN IN BANGKOK!!
pic.twitter.com/w2xGsQL7xZ

— SEND MENFESS CHECK LIKES???? (@nctzenbase) March 10, 2023

The same is true for large multi-group events like music festivals that have multiple fandoms in attendance: usually, out of politeness, fans of other groups will leave their lightsticks on when someone else is on stage.

However, in the past, there have been times audiences created a “black ocean” by turning their lightsticks off, leaving the group performing in an almost entirely dark venue. This is done as a sign of protest, like when fans protested Jisoo‘s addition to Lovelyz at the 2015 Pepsi Concert.

The practice was more frequent but has decreased in recent years. Now in 2023, some attendees of an upcoming festival plan to bring it back to protest one of the performers.

Since the initial artist announcement, fans have been waiting in anticipation for KCON USA 2023. The three-day celebration of “all things Hallyu” boasts a line-up including ATEEZ, NCT‘s Taeyong, IVE, and Stray Kids.

Also included in the lineup is Rain (Jung Jihoon), who has been active in the industry since 1998 and has had an incredibly successful solo career. He is also the CEO of RAIN Company and played a massive part in the debut of CIIPHER, the label’s first group.

Surprisingly, his announcement was met with anger and frustration as CIIPHER fans cited his lack of promotion of the group following members’ participation in survival shows.

WTF? HE HAS THE AUDACITY TO JOIN THE KCON BUT CANT EVEN PROMOTE THE ONLY GROUP HE HANDLES? CIIPHER SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON YOUR POSITION https://t.co/Jvy1COKoy4

— 똥강아지 ❀ (@for_mywon) June 12, 2023

He should be making sure Ciipher attended these events instead, especially with Keita's popularity in Boys Planet, but that is a personal opinion… https://t.co/SkMCvmgt0h

— Fernanda Siepierski (@nandasiepi) June 12, 2023

On August 8, it was announced that four members of Ciipher — Tan, Tag, Dohwan, and Won — would be leaving the group, and the three remaining members would continue their individual activities and “reorganize into a new team in the future.”

4 Members Of Ciipher Officially Leave The Group

While fans were glad to hear an update from several members they had not heard from in months, many were also angered by the group being in this situation in the first place.

This, combined with the knowledge of the fates of some other groups Rain was involved with over the years, led fans to propose a “black ocean” during Rain’s KCON performance.

to everyone at kcon:

it doesn’t matter who you stan. it doesn’t matter who you’re there to support. when rain is on stage, lightsticks off. black ocean. he ruined the dreams of these boys and he will know that’s not okay. #JusticeForCiipher #KCON https://t.co/t4rOEXWbgR

— mocha is seeing LOOSSEMBLE (@winxyeojin) August 12, 2023

The idea quickly spread, reaching almost 300 thousand views, with many in support of the concept.

Usually I'd feel bad for pushing a black oshean for an artist but this is about Rain who ruined young people's dreams 3 times. His music and dance is iconic but he should really know that what he did is not okay and this is probably the only way to make him realize https://t.co/SksK5WR4Yx

— Fabiana | 몬엑 (@ongshimiism) August 12, 2023

ATINY ROADY AND ZEROSE MOOTS I know a lot of you are going to Kcon Ateez, Xikers, and ZB1 are performing on the same day as Rain. We are asking everyone to give him a black ocean when he performs for what he did to Ciipher! Please pass along the message https://t.co/EpYSkZ31mK

— Multi Trash (@Caratiny04) August 12, 2023

#ATINY #HUNNIES #MINI #KEPL1AN #road???? #ZEROSE please help to give #RAIN a black ocean on #KCONLA2023 this is the least the kpop stans can do after what #RAIN did to #CIIPHER he promised them success and asked them to believe in him but then he ruined all of their dreams. pic.twitter.com/4NnCchF3Nr

— ????????????✰⁵ (@knowoongyun) August 15, 2023

While some may have mixed feelings, it is apparent that many netizens support a protest against Rain.

One of CIIPHER’s members, Keita, will be debuting in a project group, which you can read about below.

Netizens React To The Lineup For The New “Boys Planet” Project Group BLIT — Not Everyone Is Happy