Artists under HYBE are triumphing on both Korean and international charts in 2023, while YG and JYP are struggling
2023 is yet another glamorous year for HYBE. Despite the absence of BTS due to military service duties, the members’ solo releases before enlistment has maintained BTS’s reputation and popularity. Especially noteworthy are the groundbreaking solo debuts of Jimin and Jungkook, which topped various major charts, even securing the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Alongside this, HYBE artists are also topping Korean charts, with NewJeans and SEVENTEEN taking the spotlight.
HYBE Takes Over MelOn in 2023
Looking at top girl groups and boy groups every month on Korea’s most popular streaming platform MelOn, netizens can’t help but be amazed by HYBE’s two representatives: NewJeans and SEVENTEEN. Min Hee-jin’s girl group not only had a spectacular debut with two super hits, “Hype Boy” and “Attention,” but all releases in their following year achieved remarkable success.
In the total of 12 months, NewJeans topped the MelOn chart for an impressive 7 months, divided into two periods: “Ditto” from January to March and “Super Shy” from July to October. Notably, “Ditto” was the overall top girl group song on MelOn in 2023.
Alongside NewJeans, other top-performing girl group songs includes IVE’s “I AM” (May) and “Baddie” (November), as well as (G)I-DLE with “Queencard” (July).
Meanwhile, regarding boy groups, SEVENTEEN and its subunit BSS secured the top positions on the MelOn chart for 10 out of 12 months. The remaining two months were claimed by NCT Dream’s “Candy” (January) and SM’s rookie group RIIZE’s “Get a Guitar” (October).
SEVENTEEN’s explosive comeback with the mini-album “FML” and the title track “Super” helped them become the first K-pop artist to achieve 6.2 million copies sold for an album, alongside consistently high digital ranking on MelOn.
In fact, “Super” is a rare boy group that maintained in MelOn’s Daily Top 10 for several weeks after its release, standing out against the chart full of female artists.
Furthermore, BSS – a subunit of SEVENTEEN, also achieved significant success with “Fighting,” making waves throughout the first half of the year. Notably, “Fighting” surpassed “Super” to become the top boy group song on MelOn in 2023.
In October 2023, SEVENTEEN continued their successful streak with the release of their mini-album “Seventeenth Heaven”, which surpassed 5 million copies sold in the first week.
The title track, “God of Music”, also claimed the #1 spot on MelOn Top 100, breaking the record for the fastest ascent of male groups in 2023 and so far remaining the only boy group song to do so in this year.
Now in their 9th year of their career, SEVENTEEN demonstrated long-lasting potential, elevating their status even higher.
Below are some comments from netizens:
- This shows how amazing NewJeans is.
- “Get A Guitar” is also there. RIIZE is amazing.
- What happened to SEVENTEEN…? Dominating in their 9th year?
- NewJeans and SEVENTEEN’s triumphs are truly astounding.
- NewJeans keep topping the chart for 3 – 4 months with each comeback; that’s impressive.
- BSS surpassing SEVENTEEN is hilarious
- BSS and SEVENTEEN really be out there topping the charts for 10 out of 12 months
YG may fall out of “BIG3”?
In 2023, YG faces significant upheaval as BLACKPINK reaches the contract renewal period and does not release any new products. Throughout the year, while artists under YG continued to make comebacks regularly, few representatives managed to make a mark on domestic charts.
Of course, Jisoo achieved outstanding results with “Flower”, AKMU did exceptionally well with “Love Lee”, and Jennie’s “You & Me” ranked consistently high. However, compared to HYBE’s dominance, YG’s overall achievements remain relatively pale.
In particular, despite high expectations, YG’s new girl group BABYMONSTER completely disappeared from the South Korean music charts, while the agency’s 4th generation boy group TREASURE struggled to gain public attention.
As a matter of face, YG seems to rely entirely on the success of BLACKPINK. Therefore, even though BLACKPINK renewed their contract for group activities, many fans are concerned that YG might lose momentum if the 4 girls cannot set time aside amid their busy solo gigs.
JYP’s complete disappearance
Looking at domestic charts, all of JYP artists were unable to stand out in 2023, even including the “public pick” TWICE. The company was completely missing from compilations of domestic charts’s achievements, having gone empty-handed at the 2023 MelOn Music Awards.
While JYP 4th gen artists, such as Stray Kids, ITZY, and NMIXX, are still doing well in terms of sales and international platforms, they are struggling hard on Korean charts.
All in all, the powerful presence of HYBE poses a real threat to both YG and JYP, potentially displacing them from their positions in the revered “BIG3” entertainment empires in South Korea.
Source: instiz, K14
