NewJeans’ Unexpected Chart Rankings Leave Netizens In Disbelief
HYBE’s power rookies, NewJeans, recently released their double singles, “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum,” on May 24, KST.
Though NewJeans have cemented their place in the K-Pop industry in less than two years, there is no denying that the current situation has not been not ideal for them to put out new music as public opinion around the group and their CEO Min Hee Jin has been volatile in the past few weeks.
The release came in the midst of the ongoing public feud between NewJeans’ label ADOR and its parent company, HYBE. It also coincided with the release of BTS RM’s solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person, arousing further controversy, which was later debunked. Regardless, fans have been anxious about the future of NewJeans’s career due to these controversial circumstances.
The double singles, however, have dispelled any apprehension about NewJeans’ popular appeal with unprecedented success. Within an hour of its release, “How Sweet” attracted over 37,000 unique listeners on Melon, Korea’s top music streaming platform. This is the highest recorded number of Melon unique listeners in 2024.
Furthermore, the two songs also ranked very high on the Melon Top 100 chart, with “How Sweet” securing the 7th spot and “Bubble Gum” the 14th.
The Top 100 chart is calculated based on the number of unique listeners in the past 24 hours (50%) and the number of unique listeners in the past 1 hour (50%). NewJeans’s ability to chart that high despite releasing it on a Friday, that too at 1 p.m., has left netizens in complete awe of their outreach.
- “The songs are really, really good.”
- “Amazing performance, especially on a Friday at 1 PM… NewJeans, congratulations! I hope they get more wins!”
- “You’re telling me these rankings are possible for a girl group with a Friday 1 PM release… LOL. Only NewJeans could pull off something like this.”
- “NewJeans, hwaiting!”
- “The song ‘How Sweet’ is good, actually.”
- “Number 7 on Top 100. This is really awesome.”
- “Wow, this is so f*cking amazing. I’m jealous, haha. How is it possible to make it on to the charts like that on a Friday at 1 PM?”
- “Crazy, LOL. I knew they’d do well because they were on the news, and even the people who were unaware of them got to know all about it.”
- “I expected nothing less, but this is really amazing! The song is really good, LOL.”
- “Yes, Si Hyuk!!! We’re having fun!!!”
