What is the biggest girl group song of all time in Korea?

    Which girl group song do you pick as the biggest hit in K-Pop history? (Korean charts only) 87

    1. Hype Boy (9) 10%
    2. DDU-DU DDU-DU (6) 7%
    3. Cheer Up (11) 13%
    4. Love Dive (0) 0%
    5. Gee (44) 51%
    6. I Am The Best (1) 1%
    7. Tell Me (7) 8%
    8. Rollin' (0) 0%
    9. Bad Girl Good Girl (0) 0%
    10. Roly Poly (4) 5%
    11. Other (5) 6%

    I recently got into some exchanges on a subreddit about the historical significance and scale of what Hype Boy has done since its release, in terms of numbers and cultural impact, and then I realized something:


    I've never asked AKP what they think about the biggest girl group song of all time debate


    So let's poll it up. I WAS going to frame this discussion with the premise Hype Boy is already in that conversation, and I might link some numbers later for each of these songs (anyone else is welcome to bail out my lazy ass), but opening it up to all songs this way could be more fun and less contentious.


    Disclaimer: We are ONLY looking at Korea. If we open it to international performance, it'll just be a bunch of Blinks and Tokkis arguing (and random people saying don't forget about FiftyFifty)...which may happen anyway :pepe-shrug:


    Aside: it was a difficult choice not to put Ditto on the poll, and leave it to the fate of a random other category, especially when it's about to sweep every SOTY award, but I think most can agree Hype Boy is NJ's biggest hit overall

    Honestly I think Into the New World. You hear that song to this day. I was at Seoul Pride last year and it was played. Also the year before that. It is also common in kpop oriented bars not so much clubs though. Cant dance to the song much.


    International Fifty Fifty's Cupid might unironically be there biggest hit ever at least in America for girl group song.

    I never understad why people ask about someting "in Korea" in this forum. Does it look like we are korean living in SK or what?

    And what is the queastion anyway? The song we think is the best? Most important?


    But okay... Gee I guess

  • AllKill VIP
    Quote from patrik-k

    I never understad why people ask about someting "in Korea" in this forum. Does it look like we are korean living in SK or what?

    And what is the queastion anyway? The song we think is the best? Most important?


    But okay... Gee I guess

    Stop being such a bore. I don't think I've ever seen you not post something negative or critical. Like ever. Relax. It's K-Pop.

    Quote from TwiceKaren

    Gee and is not even close

    Not even close? And you call yourself a Once? ;judgingpepe:


    It's been almost 8 years and I still have SHY SHY SHY living in my head rent free

    Quote from YamaChwan

    Stop being such a bore. I don't think I've ever seen you not post something negative or critical. Like ever. Relax. It's K-Pop.

    Not even close? And you call yourself a Once? ;judgingpepe:


    It's been almost 8 years and I still have SHY SHY SHY living in my head rent free

    I love Twice too but Gee was more iconic if you ask me, SNSD was everywhere the colorful skinny jeans were everywhere and it was the song that made SNSD become number one, it is not even my favorite song but you can't deny how big it was

    I'm now curious what it would take for the people who have voted for Gee to admit a song has surpassed it.


    I know that answer isn't the same for everyone, but what bar would have to be cleared for you to say, "Okay. This is a bigger national hit than even Gee."

    Quote from YamaChwan

    I'm now curious what it would take for the people who have voted for Gee to admit a song has surpassed it.


    I know that answer isn't the same for everyone, but what bar would have to be cleared for you to say, "Okay. This is a bigger national hit than even Gee."

    I don't think any song has surpassed Gee when it comes to impact and recognition. I even remember reading somewhere that Gee was titled the Song of the Decade (meaning out of all songs from 2000-2009), i think that title was given by MelOn

    Quote from TwiceKaren

    Or maybe it hasn't been surpassed and you are dluling yourself into thinking it has?

    It's not about me ;judgingpepe:


    I'm asking a legit question. What boxes have to be checked for you to pick a song over Gee.


    My easy comp is always going to be sports. I think Michael Jordan is the GOAT, by a WIDE margin, but I have criteria for what I'd need to see personally to concede a player is better.

  • AllKill VIP

    I don’t really like the song but it’s gee I think. I don’t think kpop is even that big of a phenomenon in Korea any more as much as it was during gee era. it doesn’t matter how many weeks current songs charts by default they aren’t as popular as gee was.


    Ofc internationally we have blackpink songs I guess.

    Quote from YamaChwan

    I'm now curious what it would take for the people who have voted for Gee to admit a song has surpassed it.


    I know that answer isn't the same for everyone, but what bar would have to be cleared for you to say, "Okay. This is a bigger national hit than even Gee."

    Girls generation had the ability to pull some of the highest tv ratings ever for their performances. A hit by them feels much bigger than anything 3rd or 4th gen have done in kpop.


    I don’t think relevance like that even exists any more.

    Quote from ISaidISaid

    Girls generation had the ability to pull some of the highest tv ratings ever for their performances. A hit by them feels much bigger than anything 3rd or 4th gen have done in kpop.


    I don’t think relevance like that even exists any more.

    This answer will probably always be heavily influenced by demographic, like a Gallup poll.


    In 10 years, maybe the overwhelming majority would say Cheer Up or D4. In 15 years, I bet a lot of people would say Hype Boy or Ditto.

    Quote from YamaChwan

    This answer will probably always be heavily influenced by demographic, like a Gallup poll.


    In 10 years, maybe the overwhelming majority would say Cheer Up or D4. In 15 years, I bet a lot of people would say Hype Boy or Ditto.

    Not really no. Gallup doesn’t tell us relative popularity across years.


    Absolutely these past few years NJ or BP or twice will have top songs. Every year will have its own hits.


    But won’t change the fact that current #1 songs are not as big as #1 song of the past.


    I think it’s very obvious kpop idols are not as popular as they were.


    I thought everyone agreed kpop and esp idols feel a lot less relevant in Korea than it used to be why did I think this was a popular opinion lol.

    I've been to Seoul twice, and while that doesn't give me any leg to stand on compared to people actually living there, at least in 2017 and 2018, K-Pop was literally everywhere.


    Even in 2018, I was able to film and upload a video of all the times I heard just Mamamoo songs on the streets.


    And based on what people who live there currently have said, NewJeans and IVE are absolutely everywhere. And if you look at my Circle Digital Year-End thread, we have actually never seen girl groups occupy so many top song rankings.


    Heck, traditionally big name soloists and groups not labeled K-Pop, like Dean, Heize, Melomance, Epik High, to name a few, didn't make nearly the same impact chart-wise as they did in years prior, while the girls...


    I agree on boy groups though. LOL. 4th gen has been pathetic compared to all the previous generations.

    Seeing things every where is just promo either paid by fans or by company. I feel “people” don’t care about kpop the way they used to including GG’s.


    Let’s agree to disagree I guess. Lol.


    I think gee will continue to be named the “biggest” kpop hit even 10 year from now.

    Quote from ISaidISaid

    Seeing things every where is just promo either paid by fans or by company. I feel “people” don’t care about kpop the way they used to including GG’s.


    Let’s agree to disagree I guess. Lol.


    I think gee will continue to be named the “biggest” kpop hit even 10 year from now.

    What also influenced my "generational gaps" take is a YT video I watched of two different groups of K-Pop fans doing a "Guess That Song" game--one group was people in their 30s and the other was 3 high school kids.


    I was shocked how some iconic songs that aren't that old to me weren't instant guesses by the kids....and likewise, the 30somethings couldn't instantly identify top songs from today.


    There is going to be a whole generation of fans who grew up doing Hype Boy dance challenges or copying the meme.


    We can agree to disagree, but I'm not really trying to argue with you. It's just my perspective on it.

    Agree with the user that kpop was just much more mainstream and pervasive back in SNSD days so Gee will be very hard to beat. :pepe-narrow-eyes:


    I find it interesting how Gallup’s “overall” ranking that gets quoted now is the result of the 13-39 age group answers as there’s now a larger gap between what people listen to.


    Even in 2016 the overall ranking was determined by the result of the 13 to 59 age groups (only reason Im Chang-jung was above Twice, if it was calculated like it has been in recent years Twice would have “topped” Gallup) but as the results get more skewed they seem to have switched how they show the results.


    If you look at 2010, 33% in their 40s and 25.1% in their 50s chose SNSD as their favourite group


    BTS this year had 9% in the 40s bracket and New Jeans 6% (couldn’t find the 50s numbers)


    In 2020 which was after BTS’s biggest hit they were 18.7% in the 40s and not in the top 10 in the 50s (which needed more than 7.4%).

    No I’m absolutely sure kids/teens these days will say hype boy over gee that wasn’t my point.


    I think there were MORE kids into gee than kids into hype boy or any idol song now.


    There is less people caring about idols now than before.

    Gee


    And dont think it will be beat really, not because the song was better or kpop was more popular back then (i dont think it was, just look at what songs dominated 2023 charts), but the consumption of media is so much more split between ages, services , etc.


    Less and less people watching tv, listening to radio or putting on melon top 100 chart as their playlist. Imo no song released today, no matter how big, can reach the same level of public awarness like the sotys of 2000/2010s could at the time.

    Quote from babyspice31

    I even remember reading somewhere that Gee was titled the Song of the Decade (meaning out of all songs from 2000-2009), i think that title was given by MelOn

    Not too long ago, Melon released a "T‍op 100 K-pop Masterpieces" ranking, and I actually created a thread on the topic. Shown below are all the g‍irl group songs included in their list. I've also colour-coded the songs by generation; note how the Second Generation dominates.


    #88. F‍in.K.L – 내 남자 친구에게 (To My Boyfriend) [1998]

    #86. S‍.E.S. – D‍reams Come True [1998]

    #85. R‍ed Velvet – Psycho [2019]

    #84. L‍ovelyz – Ah-Choo [2015]

    #83. M‍amamoo – Um Oh Ah Yeh [2015]

    #76. After School – Bang! [2010]

    #71. S‍istar – 나혼자 (A‍lone) [2012]

    #69. L‍oona – Butterfly [2019]

    #66. G‍Friend – 시간을 달려서 (Rough) [2016]

    #64. T-a‍ra – Roly-Poly [2011]

    #63. Orange Caramel – Catallena [2014]

    #60. I‍tzy – Dalla Dalla [2019]

    #57. F‍in.K.L – 영원한 사랑 (F‍orever Love) [1999]

    #56. Twice – TT [2016]

    #55. f(x) – 첫 사랑니 (Rum Pum Pum Pum) [2013]

    #52. O‍h M‍y Girl – 비밀정원 (Secret Garden) [2018]

    #49. (G)I-dle – Lion [2019]

    #48. I‍z*One – Fiesta [2020]

    #45. f(x) – NU 예삐오 (Nu ABO) [2010]

    #42. E‍XID – 위아래 (Up & Down) [2014]

    #40. f(x) – 4 Walls [2015]

    #38. Baby V.O.X – G‍et Up [1999]

    #37. 2‍NE1 – Fire [2009]

    #33. Girls' Generation – I Got a Boy [2013]

    #31. Twice – Cheer Up [2016]

    #27. W‍onder Girls – Nobody [2008]

    #2‍6. M‍iss A – Bad Girl Good Girl [2010]

    #20. R‍ed Velvet – 빨‍간 맛 (Red Flavor) [2017]

    #18. K‍a‍ra – Mister [2009]

    #14. S‍.E.S. – ('Cause) I'm Your Girl [1997]

    #13. B‍lackpink – Ddu-Du Ddu-Du [2018]

    #9. W‍onder Girls – Tell Me [2007]

    #8. B‍rown Eyed Girls – Abracadabra [2009]

    #7. 2‍NE1 – 내가 제일 잘 나가 (I Am the Best) [2011]

    #6. Girls' Generation – 다시 만난 세계 (Into the N‍ew World) [2007]

    #5. Girls' Generation – Gee [2009]

    damnnn that list is actually good! like all of these songs are top tier wow


    although i would've personally ranked loona, red velvet, f(x) and s.e.s much much higher

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