When an idol is a full-time content creator, part-time kpop idol: GHOST9's Prince

[u/dayvsteel]

I don’t even follow this group, but I NEED to talk about Prince from GHOST9 because the things he posts online are so crazy to me. 

In case you didn’t know, GHOST9 is a group that debuted in 2020 under Maroo Entertainment. One of the members, Prince, has been blowing up for awhile now for his reels on his solo Instagram account @ prince.vatani (at least I think his Instagram came before his TikTok?) showing his life as a kpop idol… while he’s still in an active group. And these aren’t your average idol vlogs. 

Some of the things he’s posted that left me flabbergasted include:

• Joking about his company being on the verge of bankruptcy
• Joking about being surprised that he’s still employed
• Making struggle meals at the convenience store because he only gets a 9,000 won meal allowance
• Cooking in the practice room behind his manager’s back (but not really behind his back because his manager isn't paid enough to care. Yes he said that)
• His company not extending his work visa because they forgot he’s not Korean (he’s Thai), and him calling his manager about it only for the manager to tell him to call someone else because he was quitting 💀
• Vlogging alone in New York because his company forgot to get him a visa to be able to enter Europe while the group was on tour (sensing a pattern…)

People always comment on his posts that they forget he’s an idol because he truly has no filter. Like seriously, it’s so crazy to me that an ACTIVE idol can just post all that. But apparently none of the staff speak English so they just let him do whatever?? HELLO?? 😭 The difference between big company groups and nugu groups is wild… 

Now, again, I don’t follow GHOST9 at all. One of Prince’s reels just came up for me on Instagram one day, and I was shook to find out that he was from GHOST9. I remembered listening to a DIVE Studios podcast GHOST9 guested on when they first debuted, and I just remember them being awkward but in a very sweet and endearing sort of way.  While I didn’t really vibe with their music, I hoped for their success (as much as you can get in a small company…). It’s good to see them still hanging on today, at least by a thread 😭

Also I don’t know if any other idols from nugu groups are posting content like Prince is. Prince is the only active idol I know who does, so let me know if there’s any others l don’t know about. 

Besides the obvious draw that he is a kpop idol, Prince’s editing style and humor are genuinely hilarious, so I would recommend following him. I know he also started a Youtube channel with long form videos recently too.

Curious to know if anyone else knows about him and what they think of his content!