8 K-Pop B-Side Tracks That Are So Good They Outperformed The Title Tracks
When idols make their comeback, fans anticipate their releases because they’re getting more quality content in the form of iconic comeback eras! The artists promote their music with a title track (or sometimes even double title tracks) on music shows, and the track is usually the face for the comeback. But sometimes, the B-side tracks are just as deserving of noteworthy praise and attention, and ends up outperforming the title track! Here are 8 times an idol’s B-Side song was so good, it ended up with its own rightful fan following!
1. “Deja Boo” vs “Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)- SHINee’s Jonghyun
“Deja Boo”, SHINee Jonghyun‘s self-composed track (feat. Zion T.), was released as a pre-release single to his debut mini-album Base in 2015. It charted high on its release, and continued to maintain a high position even after the release of the album’s title track, “Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)”. In fact, the song did so well that SM Entertainment ultimately switched Jonghyun’s promotions to “Deja Boo” instead, and as a result, Jonghyun won on multiple music shows with the track!
2. “Hero” vs “Rush”- Monsta X
In 2015, Monsta X released their second mini-album Rush, and promoted the comeback with a title track of the same name. While “Rush” charted decently, it was the B-side track “Hero” that really captured the attention of the audience, and the song ultimately did so well that an additional MV was released for the song, and Monsta X also began promoting it on music shows as well!
3. “Love Talk” vs “Moonwalk”- WayV
In October 2019, WayV made their comeback with the mini-album Take Over The Moon, with title track “Moonwalk”. The album debuted at #1 on the iTunes Worldwide Album Chart, and the title track charted well too. Around a week later, the MV for the English version of their B-side song “Love Talk” was released, and it charted high as well! The views of the MVs, if compared, also speak of the popularity of “Love Talk”! While ‘Moonwalk” has 7,160,151 views, “Love Talk” is currently ahead of it at 9,917,089 views!
4. “Rainy Season” vs “Egotistic”- MAMAMOO
In July 2018, MAMAMOO released their seventh mini-album, Red Moon, and promoted it with the single “Egotistic”. While the title track charted well too, upon its release, the album’s B-side track “Rainy Season” was seen to be charting higher than the title track, and peaked at #2 on iChart!
5. “Dope” vs “I NEED U”- BTS
In April 2015, BTS released their third mini-album, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life, Pt. 1, and promoted the album with the single “I NEED U”. While it didn’t surpass the title track, the album’s B-side song “Dope” ended up doing so well that in June of the same year, Big Hit Entertainment announced additional promotions of the album with “Dope”! After releasing an MV for it, BTS officially beginning promotions for the song on June 25, 2015!
6. “I Need Someone” vs “When You Love Someone”- Day6
As part of Day6‘s Every Day6 Project in 2017, the singles for the month of September were lead single ‘When You Love Someone” and sidetrack “I Need Someone”. Although “When You Love Someone” charted well and is a treasured song, “I Need Someone” ended up becoming a big fan favorite, and is also currently the band’s 4th most streamed song on Spotify!
7. “Forever Young” vs “DDU-DU DDU-DU”- BLACKPINK
When BLACKPINK released their first mini-album Square Up in 2018, it was met with a lot of love and hype! The title track “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” performed very well, and at the time of its release, pocketed the achievement of “most viewed MV” in 24 hours! But the B-side track “Forever Young” also charted phenomenally on charts! In fact, the reason “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” did not achieve a Perfect All-Kill on some charts is because “Forever Young” was charting above it! “Forever Young” is also the only B-side track to be certified platinum by Gaon!
8. “Don’t Flirt” vs “Color Ring”- WINNER
WINNER‘s debut album in 2014 titled 2014 S/S was promoted with double title tracks, “Empty” and “Color Ring”. “Empty” was a huge hit, and “Color Ring” was also received well. But it was the B-side track “Don’t Flirt” ultimately ended up surpassing one of the title track, “Color Ring”! “Color Ring” charted at #3 on the Gaon chart and sold 571,180 copies, while “Don’t Flirt” charted at #9 but ended up selling 1,031,070+ copies!
