[Article] 230406

"Miracles of Small and Medium Sized" Shined in the 4th Generation Girl Group Fever

For K-Pop fans, the expression "small and medium miracle" is familiar. The means that it is rare like a "miracle" to produce noticeable results at small and medium-sizw agencies, not large agencies such as SM, YG, JYP, and HYBE.

Recently, the global status of girl groups belonging to large agencies such as IVE, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, and aespa has increased, causing "girl group syndrome," but behind it, many have been pushed out of fierce competition. Last year, girl groups belonging to small agencies such as bugAboo, BVNDIT, Hot Issue, and Blink Blink failed to overcome the aftermath of COVID-19 and tok steps to disband one after another.

But this year is different. According to Hot 100 chart released by U.S. music media Billboard on the 4th (local time), "Cupid," released on February 24th by a new agency, Attract, ranked 100th last week, up six notches to 94th this week.

Fifty Fifty entry into the Hot 100 is simply the result of rewriting the history of K-Pop. It is the fastest K-Pop group to enter the Billboard main chart in about four months since its debut in November last year.
It is two months earlier than NewJeans, who first entered the chart six months after their debut with "Ditto."

The K-pop groups that entered the chart prior to Fifty Fifty are Wonder Girls, BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and New Jins. This is unusual in that it entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time as a member of a small and medium-sized agency, not a large agency such as YG, JYP, and Hive.

The title song "Cupid" is a combination of minimal disco beats and funky baselines with retro-style sensibility reminiscent of chanson. Analysts say that the sped-up version, which has accelerated, has gained responses from overseas fans first as it became popular as a short-form challenge, and has succeeded in success in North America through word of mouth.

In addition to Billboard, it also ranked 96th on the UK's official chart single top 100 chart, which is known as the world's two largest charts. It is the third K-pop girl group to enter the top 100 of the official singles chart after Blackpink and NewJeans.

Prior to this, the four-member rookie girl group "H1-KEY," which debuted last year, is also a group that attracted attention as a "miracle of small and medium-sized." Released by Heiki on January 5, "Roses Bloomed Between Buildings" drew attention by reversing the chart, going viral with addictive melodies and beautiful lyrics that comfort them.

The song, which first entered the Melon Top 100 chart at the end of February, about two months after its release, steadily rose in rank and set a record of rising to 19th place on the 13th of last month. In addition, album sales continued to break the "self-best record" by ranking first in the sixth week of release (based on the Hanteo Chart).

After topping the Bugs real-time chart, Heiki said through his agency, "I feel grateful that so many people are listening to our songs," adding, "I hope our songs will continue to give comfort and hope to many people."

Despite growing concerns over monopoly and polarization in the K-pop industry due to the recent Hive-SM management dispute, the surprising achievements of Fifty Fifty and Heiki show that "good music" still works and the public still cheers for Underdog's rebellion.

Source:
http://www.sportsq.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=451054