Bang Minsoo, better known by his stage name C.A.P, is the leader of the South Korean group Teen Top, one of the last of the second generation of k-pop that is still active. However, in a recent live on his YouTube channel, the artist reveals that the group's situation is not so good, exposing the mismanagement of it's agency, Top Media.

Minsoo opened a live broadcast on his YouTube channel, 방가 스튜디오 (BangGa Studio), to draw while talking to fans, and ended up using the moment to vent the injustices he and his groupmates are facing.

A fan, username leexeseul, was doing the real-time translation from Korean to English through the broadcast chat. According to what was reported, C.A.P said that Teen Top has been earning only the equivalent of about US$55 per month and Top Media isn't giving them jobs.

"We are not working, we have no other work besides superficial things. If we don't work, we cannot make money. So, in a month... how much did we earn? We earn 70k won from our company. We need to defend ourselves first. As a team, there is nothing we can do. We need to take care of ourselves now."

Minsoo also says that the company is encouraging them to be more active on YouTube: "I haven't been working a lot these days, so I'm struggling with money and I'm going to do more streams. The other kids [members of Teen Top] are only broadcasting once a week. We promised the company that we would do live broadcasts at least once a week, but I think I’ll do it more often. I can’t do part-time jobs because my company doesn’t give me anything, so I’ll do more streams. ".

In another broadcast, Minsoo talks more about how Teen Top members are surviving without work:

He said he keeps in touchwith Chanhee (Chunji's real name) via Kakao Talk, but his groupmate has stopped recording videos for YouTube due to lack of money.

"I think Chanhee left YouTube because, whenever he recorded, it costs a lot of money. He needed to do makeup, rent a studio and then ask someone to edit it. All these things cost a lot of money. But his channel is a covers channel. When he sings a song the profit goes to the person who owns the copyright, so it doesn't give any money ", he said.

He also talks about other members: Ricky, Niel and briefly about Changjo:

"Is Changkyun still posting? I think Ricky hasn't posted a lot, either. Ricky also lets someone else edit his video, so he needs to pay the editor for each video and he has no money. Every month he has to pay the editor, but the YouTube channel is not doing well and it's not getting views, so he’s looking for someone else. "

C.A.P continues: "Niel and Ricky use the same editor, but Niel has more views so he is going well, but Ricky can't pay for an editor. Changjo edits himself on his phone, so he doesn't spend money, but he has to work hard."

Still in the same conversation, Minsoo also talked about his own channel: "In my case, my family helps me, we all share the work, so I don’t spend money to make videos on YouTube. I don’t need to invest money to do this, so I’ll continue."

In another moment of the transmission, the artist also reveals the reason he left social media: "It seems that everyone is very happy, except me. Before I used more, but now not much".

Minsoo has worked as a visual artist, selling and exhibiting paintings in galleries. "My works of art are starting to sell a little, so I can use better material and I'm happy with it. [...] I'm not ashamed to sell [my art]".

However, it is not always an easy job: "The art teacher asked me when I’m going to finish this pattern, they said I should hire an assistant, but I don’t have [enough money] to it so I’ll do it all by myself", he comments at the beginning of the livestream.

Although the current situation of Teen Top is not favorable, as Minsoo himself described, the group is still officialized as active, and Top Media has not yet commented on what was disclosed by the member, but he already speaks as if he is not an idol anymore:

"I think that more than an idol, I feel closer as an artist. I heard good news, so I can eat well today. I can buy food, but I can't stop making art".

He also says: "Before, when I was an idol, I didn't need a business card because people could only search me on the internet, but now we [artists] are introduced to each other, so we exchange more cards".

Administered by Top Media, Teen Top had its debut in July 2010 and was very successful with songs like Supa Luv, Clap, Miss Right and Rocking. L.Joe left the group in 2017, and Teen Top continued to promote as a quintet formed by C.A.P, Chunji, Niel, Ricky and Changjo.

The group's most recent work was the album DEAR.N9NE, released in June 2019, from which they promoted the track Run Away. Some members also have solo careers, but promotions have been sparse.

Minsoo's honesty in his last broadcasts shocked Teen Top's fans, Angels, who did not imagine that the situation of the idols was so unfortunate.

Their fandom and other K-POP fans are teaming up on social media with the tags #엔젤는_항상_틴탑과_함께 and #TeenTopProtectionSquad, demanding a better treatment for the group.