BlackPink’s Younger Sister Group Struggles: BabyMonster Kicked Out of Charts
BabyMonster's Return with "Sheesh" MV Met with Criticism and Lackluster Chart Performance
BabyMonster has just returned with the MV “Sheesh” but the product has been criticized and has not achieved high rankings on music charts.
BabyMonster debuted in November 2023 with the MV “Batter Up”. The group debuted at the time when YG Entertainment was in crisis due to the departure of BlackPink and G-Dragon. Therefore, the public was very curious whether BabyMonster could help YG return to its heyday.
Unfortunately, “Batter Up” was criticized as outdated from music to image. Therefore, BabyMonster couldn’t appear on the Korean music charts and had a weaker impact compared to other female groups active at the same time despite being labeled as BlackPink’s younger sister group.
Disappearing from music charts
As of April 2, “Sheesh” has not entered the top 100 of the largest music streaming platforms in Korea, Melon, as well as other charts. This is a very dismal achievement for a group from a large company bearing the label “BlackPink’s younger sibling” like BabyMonster.
The current situation of this group is quite worrisome because with “Sheesh”, they have released 3 songs but none of them succeeded. It’s worth noting that at the same time BabyMonster released “Sheesh”, HYBE’s rookie group ILLIT also debuted with the song “Magnetic”. In contrast to BabyMonster’s dismal situation, ILLIT is performing very well on the charts. They are currently ranked 4th on Melon, 6th on Genie, and 1st on Bugs.
The catchy chorus of “Magnetic” went viral on social media and created a cover storm. ILLIT also recorded sales of 380,000 album copies in the first week of release. They are the K-pop girl group with the highest album sales for a debut week as of April 1st.
The current girl group market in K-pop is fiercely competitive, with IVE, NewJeans, Le Sserafim, aespa, and (G)I-DLE being the most prominent names. Le Sserafim and (G)I-DLE are currently occupying high positions on the charts with their new songs. Meanwhile, aespa and NewJeans are scheduled to release new products in May.
Therefore, if BabyMonster continues to choose unpopular music as it is now, the group may fall into a situation similar to JYP Entertainment’s NMIXX. Also originating from a large company and talented, NMIXX is currently almost sinking compared to idols debuting at the same time. NMIXX’s songs are often criticized as difficult to listen to, so they cannot compete in the digital music market. After unsuccessful promotions, NMIXX has cooled down and is mentioned less frequently than groups like NewJeans and aespa.
For YG Entertainment, the situation of this “big player” is also urgent. If JYP fails with NMIXX but still has Stray Kids and TWICE to “shoulder” the revenue, YG has lost its “golden egg-laying chickens” like G-Dragon, BlackPink.
BlackPink is still under contract with YG for group activities, but the Korean media predicts that in 2024, the members will focus more on individual activities. Meanwhile, other groups under YG like Treasure and Winner have recently been ineffective. Therefore, BabyMonster is a rare hope for the company in the music field at present.
