Someone made a comment in the BoporFlop thread for Klaxon that made me revisit this subject.
Throughout the whole peak of 4th gen, Idle was right there with Ive and NJ as the top 3 most popular music acts in all of Korea.
What i want to know is...how?
Ive had It Girl Wonyoung. New Jeans had a whole ass cultural reset that took over Kpop the way BP took over Kpop with D4.
But what did Idle offer that made them so popular with the Korean GP? They have three foreign members with zero general recognition. Miyeon SHOULD be an IT GIRL but she has never come close to Wonyoung or Karina. Soyeon is a gifted performer and the most successful idol songwriter in Kpop history but she never ranks high in any popularity poll either.
Idle is the biggest enigma in Kpop to be honest. They dont have titanic visuals or it girls. Their musical style and concepts havent shaken the foundations of Kpop. They dont have the benefit of huge built in fanbases. Yet somehow, they managed to generate four straight #1 comebacks including PAKs in every single one iirc, straight up chart domination with UL numbers equaling NJ and only below Ive?