2025.01.06
A HAPPY NEW YEAR！
Happy New Year!
Thank you for your continued support of this column this year.
Now, for the first entry of the new year, I would like to revisit the predictions I made a year ago.
Looking back about a year ago.
In Season1#5, I wrote a column titled "2024 KPOP Grand Outlook."
If you haven't read it, I would greatly appreciate it if you could read the article from Season1#5 and then return to this piece.
So, let's get straight to the conclusion.
Was my prediction from a year ago that "2024 will be the year of the resurgence of girl groups" correct?
The answer is...
"It's not entirely wrong, but it's not entirely right either."
It's a rather ambiguous result, as it turned out to be neither a huge hit nor a complete miss.
In 2024, there were three songs that became explosive hits in KPOP.
ILLIT's "Magnetic"
aespa's "Supernova"
And Rose & Bruno Mars' "APT."
Yes, one of the three explosive hit songs is aespa's "Supernova," a solid girl group track.
Moreover, "Supernova" didn't just fit into the category of a hit song; it achieved unprecedented success.
It accomplished a "Perfect All Kill," topping all major music charts in South Korea simultaneously, and it maintained the number one spot on the major Korean music chart Melon for 15 consecutive weeks, surpassing NewJeans' record of 14 weeks with "Ditto" and setting a new record for the longest consecutive weeks at number one.
The album "Armageddon," which includes "Supernova," sold 1.15 million copies in its first week, achieving four consecutive million-seller albums and reaching number one on the US Billboard World Albums chart.
Additionally, it was selected as the number one song in the "Billboard Staff Picks: The 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2024" announced at the end of the year.
Billboard praised it as "the K-Pop track that represents this year. This three-minute song perfectly combines innovation and structure, featuring three full choruses, dynamic sections, an emotional bridge, and an overwhelming dance break. Yet, aespa maintains a high level of completeness and consistency throughout the song, showcasing new horizons."
Furthermore, at the biggest KPOP music awards, the "2024 MAMA AWARDS," "Supernova" won Song of the Year.
Both domestically and internationally, "Supernova" was hailed as the best KPOP song of the year.
Considering that 2023 was the year of NewJeans, which established the Y2K boom and easy listening in KPOP, I believe most people did not expect aespa, a representative girl group, to achieve such career-high sales and success in just one year.
In that sense, it feels appropriate to say that it has indeed become the year of the resurgence of girl groups!
Moreover, in July, the pioneering girl group 2NE1 announced their full-group activities for the first time in ten years, and tickets for their Asian tour, which started in October, sold out across the board.
YG Entertainment's rookie girl group BABYMONSTER's first full album "DRIP," announced on November 1, topped the iTunes album charts in 11 countries and regions, and the music video for "DRIP" surpassed 100 million views in just 21 days.
In this way, there are countless examples of how girl groups made significant strides in 2024.
So why can't the author boldly declare that 2024 was the year of the resurgence of girl groups?
It boils down to the fact that when asked by casual KPOP fans, not many would respond with, "2024 was the year of girl groups!"
The primary reason for this is undoubtedly the presence of ILLIT.
ILLIT's debut song "Magnetic," released in March this year, went viral worldwide.
In South Korea, like aespa, it achieved a "Perfect All Kill," and it became the first KPOP debut song to chart on the US Billboard main chart "HOT100," continuing to chart for 22 consecutive weeks.
In Japan alone, it achieved a cumulative play count of 100 million on the Oricon weekly streaming ranking in its 11th week.
This is the fastest record for a female group in history, second only to BTS in all of KPOP.
Additionally, it topped the TikTok Weekly Top 20 for five consecutive weeks.
Moreover, ILLIT has elements that cannot be measured by these numbers alone.
That is the recognition beyond KPOP fans.
The aforementioned U.S. Billboard main chart "HOT100" makes it difficult for otaku to rank just by listening to songs; it's essential for general users to listen to the tracks.
Moreover, in Japan, achieving the remarkable feat of appearing on the Japan Record Awards and the Kohaku Uta Gassen, two major year-end music programs, in their debut year.
Considering these factors, I believe that ILLIT's "Magnetic" likely has a higher general recognition than aespa's "Supernova."
Indeed, I suspect that a significant number of people would respond with "Magnetic" when asked what the best-selling KPOP song of 2024 is.
Additionally, another major factor that cannot be said to be a resurgence for girl groups is Rosé & Bruno Mars' "APT."
While Rosé is a member of the representative girl group BLACKPINK, "APT." is not a girl group song.
On the contrary, it's a song that feels like a bundle of super pop hits, completely taking over the KPOP conversation since autumn.
In fact, it showcased such momentum that it overshadowed both "Supernova" and "Magnetic."
The music video surpassed 260 million views within two weeks of its release and achieved a "perfect all-kill" in South Korea.
On Spotify, it topped both the global and U.S. charts.
In the UK singles chart, it recorded the highest position for a KPOP female artist at number 2.
Furthermore, it claimed the number 1 spot on iTunes charts in a total of 40 countries and regions.
So, as you can see, KPOP in 2024 has seen the emergence of three big waves: "Supernova," "Magnetic," and "APT."
Honestly, it feels like an unusual occurrence to have three explosive hit songs from different artists in recent years.
However, I believe this has helped everyone understand.
My prediction from a year ago that "2024 will be the year of the resurgence of girl groups" has resulted in a rather ambiguous outcome of "it can't be said to be entirely correct, nor can it be said to be wrong."
This year, I hope to train and refine my KPOP knowledge to make accurate predictions for 2025, as I conclude my New Year's greeting.
End
Neko-machi Peko
Head of the SKOOTA KPOP Team
〈Originally a Western rock music enthusiast, I once considered working for Rockin' On. I started listening to KPOP thanks to BTS, then became hooked on BLACKPINK, stepping into the KPOP world. I became deeply invested in the survival audition show "Girls Planet 999," also known as Galpra, and as a result, I fully immersed myself in the KPOP scene with the debut of Kep1er.〉