How long did it likely take for this generation to stop fighting over who's the undeniable number 1 girl group?

Our fight is not over. Right now, Ive and NJ are still battling it out.

4th gen took over after Izone disbanded in 2021, with Next Level ending the previous generations. Then Tomboy and Love Dive hit, NJ reset the entire Kpop world with Attention and Hybe Boy, and now we're seeing LSRFM finally stake its claim to the top spot with two very unique and interesting records (most successful B side in 5 years, most successful English song ever by a GG).

Even Korea itself knows what's going down in 2024.

뉴진스vs아이브vs르세라핌vs에스파vs(여자)아이들, '원톱 전쟁' 선택은? [2023결산]

다사다난함 속 2023년 연예계도 마무리를 맞이하며 새로운 2024년을 준비하고 있다. 엑스포츠뉴스에서는 연말을 맞아 올해 가요·방송·영화계에서 화제가 된 주요 이슈들을 모아 정리했다. [편집자주] 2023년 K팝

n.news.naver.com

Quote from Blossomin88

How long again it took for Blinks and Onces to finally conclude the results? 3 or 4 years?

Wait, the results were concluded?

It definitely took longer with BP and Twice

I think what makes it even harder is that we have entered yet a new phase.

1st gen fought just over Korea. (BoA went to Japan and was successful there, but she wasn't competing with another BoA like the groups were over Korea). It's relatively easy to determine who is the most popular: it's the one who does the best in Korea.

2nd gen fought over first and foremost Korea still, but also parts of Asia bolster up their numbers. Korean success is still the determining factor. What is popular in Korea tends to be the groups that are popular amongst Kpop fans outside Korea.

3rd gen: Korea was still important, but other Asian countries had definitely established enough of a market that this counted more as well. The rest of the world also opened up beyond just the relatively small Kpop fandoms on platforms like Livejournal (1st gen) and Tumblr (2nd gen). Western success especially became a factor in the latter days of 3rd gen where even the Hot 100 became a possible battleground. International success begins to tipthe scale. Being the most popular in Korea doesn't automatically make you number 1 anymore, if another group does much better internationally. Still, the most popular groups tend to have success both in Korea and the rest of the world. That hasn't seperated entirely yet, though the cracks start to appear.

4th gen: Groups can now survive and even become very successful without much Korean success. The world market is huge and Kpop is making inroads almost everywhere.

5th gen: It's going to be very hard to determine who is the most popular. A group could be Japan's darling (second music industry in the world) or popular in Western countries or popular in Korea or South-East Asia or get a viral hit in South America or just be famous on TikTok.... or a combination of several of these.

From the end of 3rd gen, but especially 4th gen onwards, it is now extremely hard to compare groups. One could be the most popular in Korea, but this other group just got a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 while a third is conquering Japan. All their fans bring detailed receipts of a huge amount of different charts, streaming platforms, sold concert tickets in many different countries, sold albums, viral videos on TikTok, 'proof' that the rival groups numbers are inflated etc etc. You could already see this with who is the most popular in 3rd gen groups debates, but this has further intensified since then, with more markets opening to Kpop, so more metrics being available to use in comparisons.

I see a lot of this in the IVE vs NJ debate, but there was some of this in Twice vs BP as well: one being more known for Korean success and the other for worldwide success. Note that in both Twice and BP still had a lot of success in the market that the other one was known for. Possible success as a Kpop group hadn't been entirely separated from Korean success yet in 3rd gen's heyday.

Compare this with a fourth gen group like Stray Kids becoming one of the biggest 4th gen groups without almost any support from Korea at all.

Quote from ThePhantomThief

Wait, the results were concluded?

Don't start

The question is, will BM overrun NJ? They are doing ok with no promotions. Imagine when YG presses the Go button for real.

My gut is when everything plays out in 2 to 3 years, there will be an S-tier of 4 groups, NJ/BM/Lsf/Aespa, because all the members are aces and all can contribute to effectively promote their group. I have no idea what order.

What is also interesting is that Global tastes are quite diverse and in some cases the total the opposite of Korean tastes. Also will YG promote BM in Korea, or has he decided to not waste time and money and bypass Korea completely.

It's already over, no one can surpass NewJeans. Lets move on to the 6th generation.

Quote from VanDamme4Life

It's already over, no one can surpass NewJeans. Lets move on to the 6th generation.

The never ending payola, like it's not normal to have your song on tth when you're almost out of top 200. the real top will be the big tour acts anyway.

Twice and Blackpink debate has not been concluded neatly. I think most grudgingly accepted that Twice were bigger than BP in Korea (looking at longevity, PAKs, daesangs etc), and BP is bigger than Twice internationally except Japan (charting, tours etc). So maybe the 4th gen GGs will have this results too? Who knows..

Quote from Daisy_Queen

Dreamer95

The results were concluded but blinks just can't seem to accept them. Pathetic and sad.

Quote from K-PL

What is also interesting is that Global tastes are quite diverse and in some cases the total the opposite of Korean tastes.

Agreed. I think NJ has the most Western friendly sound. They have that in common with 50/50, which we all know did amazingly well.

I think AESPA would be bigger if they did that too. Not saying they have to, but SM's sound is limiting their possible appeal to bigger markets. Maybe if the girls get more opportunities to write and produce themselves.

Quote from nevermindmejin

Twice and Blackpink debate has not been concluded neatly. I think most grudgingly accepted that Twice were bigger than BP in Korea (looking at longevity, PAKs, daesangs etc), and BP is bigger than Twice internationally except Japan (charting, tours etc). So maybe the 4th gen GGs will have this results too? Who knows..

All of Twice’s success in SK came in their first 3/4 years. BP are setting touring records in SK 7 years into their career for girl groups and charting strongly still as a group and soloists.

It’s not ending and it will continue for a while. The same goes for the 5th gen groups in the future but that’s still far away since we’re literally in the middle of the 4th gen. I’ve witnessed these same discussions since 2nd gen when people debated who was more popular between SNSD, 2NE1, Apink, 4Minute, Sistar etc. It died out around 2015. Things haven’t changed with people comparing NewJeans, IVE, G-Idle, aespa, Le Sserafim, etc. I believe people will continue comparing them and pitting them against each other for the next 4-5 years until the 5th gen takes over

Quote from nevermindmejin

Twice and Blackpink debate has not been concluded neatly. I think most grudgingly accepted that Twice were bigger than BP in Korea (looking at longevity, PAKs, daesangs etc), and BP is bigger than Twice internationally except Japan (charting, tours etc). So maybe the 4th gen GGs will have this results too? Who knows..

Twice haven't had longevity in Korea. They haven't been relevant in Korea for more than half of their career at this point. Lol.

When twice was clearly not the 1 anymore people just move on cause even onces had no argument

Quote from nevermindmejin

Twice and Blackpink debate has not been concluded neatly. I think most grudgingly accepted that Twice were bigger than BP in Korea (looking at longevity, PAKs, daesangs etc), and BP is bigger than Twice internationally except Japan (charting, tours etc). So maybe the 4th gen GGs will have this results too? Who knows..

It has conculded though apart from a few onces who cant let go. Twice "were" bigger but have not been for a while and if were talking longevity in Korea thats BP? Twice peak in Korea was not that much bigger and they didnt last that long at that peak.

BP can still have hits in Korea , Twice cant.

Took 5 years for the discussion to end, that's 2020 when BP was the first gg to sell 1m and Twice started doing poorly on kcharts.

This gen change so fast because first it was itzy vs aespa then aespa vs ive and now ive vs nj, there's a chance that its nj vs baemon or smngg in the future, who knows.

It will only be for sure when the gap become massive in every metric - korea, international charts, sales and tour. Thats what made bp and bts the #1 kpop groups, the gap. Rn every top gg chart well in sk and have big sales, but nj is at advantage since their international performance is the biggest. If indeed the gap become massive in 2024 the discussion will end 3 years earlier than the previous gen, but it's unlikely as other ggs will continue to grow, though not impossible.