Its already been proven time and time again by me and others that BTS falls just short of second gen Kings TVXQ and BigBang when it comes to overall popularity in South Korea.
But one group a lot of people forget about (or don't even know about cause they act like first gen was never a thing ) is G.O.D. They were the original Kings of vocals and soulful storytelling that won the hearts of an entire nation years before TVXQ (who some say they inspired).
If you think BTS is somebody in Korea then I'll pay out of my pocket to buy you a time traveling ticket to 2001 so you can see what real local impact is in regards to kpop.
G.O.D. were GODS! How the hell is your debut album from 1999 gonna sell 160k and then a year later your third album sales 1.9 million? That's beyond anything BTS is capable of. It took BTS years to rise to where they are today. And that growth is only because of YouTube and social media.
Back in 2000 G.O.D. rose that fast because people recognized IMMEDIATELY that these guys were the real deal. It wasnt a "well I'll become a fan cause everybody else is a fan cause its trendy" ordeal like with BTS. They became a fan because G.O.D. were actual GODS.
G.O.D. maybe even more than H.O.T. was the original Nations Boy Group.
Kpop is so much more fun when you know your history isnt it :)
*gives myself wp for derailing*
