Lee Chae Yeon's Agency Responds To Plagiarism Allegations Linking Her Solo Debut Album Art To SHINee's Key's "Gasoline"

WM Entertainment has officially responded to the plagiarism allegations surrounding the album art for Lee Chae Yeon’s upcoming solo debut album “HUSH RUSH.”

Earlier this week, the agency released a preview of the album packaging for Lee Chae Yeon’s first solo mini album “HUSH RUSH,” which some noted bore similarities to the album art for SHINee‘s Key‘s recent solo album “Gasoline.” A popular post on an online community also pointed out that specific elements of Lee Chae Yeon’s teasers for “HUSH RUSH,” including the imagery in her concept trailer, were similar to Key’s album art for “Gasoline.”

Another such comparison can be found below:

https://twitter.com/masterkey525/status/1577903137171861504

On October 8, WM Entertainment issued an official statement addressing the alleged similarities and explaining their concept behind the album art for “HUSH RUSH.”

The agency’s full statement is as follows:

Hello, this is WM Entertainment.

We consider the design similarities between Lee Chae Yeon’s first mini album “HUSH RUSH” and another artist’s album to be deeply unfortunate and upsetting, and in response, we are making a statement regarding Lee Chae Yeon’s first solo album.

1. Our artist Lee Chae Yeon’s first mini album “HUSH RUSH” compares the nervousness and excitement of a vampire making her first outing in the world to Lee Chae Yeon’s first start [as a solo artist], and we planned not only her album concept but also her music video shoot using this same concept.

Furthermore, we conceived the album packaging as something a “Generation MZ vampire” would carry around, and so we designed the album packaging as a transparent bag that shows the objects inside, with two different versions: Vampire and Influencer.

In connection to the concept, the objects in the bag for the “Vampire version” packaging are things that a vampire might carry around, such as oversized sunglasses, a blood pouch, and eyeballs, while the “Influencer version” packaging consists of items with a vampire-repellent theme, such as a cross, garlic, cell phone, and things for decorating.

In this manner, we combined the idea of “a vampire who awakes in an isolated castle after 300 years and makes an outing into the world” with the significance of “Lee Chae Yeon’s solo debut” to create the concept of a “Generation MZ vampire.”

2. The images used in the album, such as eyeballs and lightning, are elements we gathered as objects to express the concept of a vampire, and regarding the key colors of the album art, we chose hues that are often used in horror- or Halloween-themed designs.

As for the design font, we used paid fonts designed by the company Sandoll, Inc. that were inspired by the horror genre, which were well-suited to the overall vibe of the album.

3. The heart design on the front of the CD in the Influencer version of the album represents a vampire’s heart beating again after waking, as well as the vampire’s racing heart when she encounters the new world [outside]. Additionally, we added the barbed wire detailing on the heart because we thought it would convey the uniquely cold and chilling aura of a vampire, and the external design company that designed this album purchased the image directly from a paid image website.

4. As such, Lee Chae Yeon’s first mini album “HUSH RUSH” is an album that has a clear image and unique narrative that it wants to convey.

5. We apologize for giving cause for concern to the fans who have waited for Lee Chae Yeon’s debut for a long time. As it is an album that she has prepared over a long period of time, we ask that you look warmly upon and show lots of interest for Lee Chae Yeon’s new start and her first mini album “HUSH RUSH.” Thank you.

You can check out Lee Chae Yeon’s album packaging for “HUSH RUSH” below, and you can also check out the rest of her teasers for her upcoming solo debut here.

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