Taiwanese band 911 (玖壹壹) on Aug. 26 posted a video on their Facebook page in response to the criticism it has been receiving for the controversial rap music video the band produced with Malaysian rapper Namewee (黃明志).

▶︎ See also "Taiwan-Malaysia Rap Video Depicting Prophet Muhammad Sparks Outrage"
▶︎ See also "Namewee: Don’t Go After Taiwanese Band"

All three members of the band appear in the near four-minute video. KEN-G (建志), the member who plays the Prophet Muhammad in the music video, says, “Our agency issued two statements for us earlier, but both were deleted because they were not what we wanted to state. What I’m about to say next is what all three of us wish to say.”

KEN-G specifically brings up the shot of him as the Prophet Muhammad holding a gun and says the reason he did so was because Namewee proposed the idea.

“At the end of the video all four religious figures become friends and stand under a sign that reads, ‘love.’”

“We thought this was a pretty positive story and I was willing to make the sacrifice,” says KEN-G.

Spring Wind (春風), another 911 member, says Namewee told them he had applied for permission to film in the mosque and the band was very polite when they were in the building.

“We didn’t touch anything and thanked the person managing the mosque before leaving.”

KEN-G says, “We are artists. And we are people with self-consciousness. We know what to do. You can’t stop us from making our music, no matter what you say. We will definitely avoid controversial topics in the future and continue to produce good music.”

The member concluded the video by saying to the band’s agency, “Don’t delete this video again. Please.”

The video has been removed from the band’s Facebook page at the time of writing, but is still available on YouTube.

Namewee has been released after being investigated and detained by Malaysian authorities for "defiling a place of worship with the intention of insulting religion."

The rapper claims his music video was meant to promote religious harmony and world peace, and he should be solely held responsible for it.

“The Taiwanese band Nine One One (Jiu Yi Yi) was only responsible for singing and performing in the music video,” Namewee says in a Facebook post. “If you want to hold someone responsible, then let it be me alone.”


First Editor: Edward White
Second Editor: J. Michael Cole