By popularity, how would you rank all the top 5th Gen Girl Groups today?
-
2. MEOWW
-
But they pronounce it like MEOWW so I like spelling it this way
-
-
Display More
For Korea, I think the group ranking would be:
6. KiiiKiii
-
-
Overall :
- BabyMonster : great sales, good charting overseas and in korea, and touring power, they are for the moment far ahead of the competition with even their album getting closer to 1M
- Illit : they have a big hit in their hand, but all their comeback underperformed, but still they have good sales
- Meovv (if their next cb do as well than hands up, i'll switch them with Illit) : Hands up is doing really good but it's their first song that is actually doing well in the chart and their sales aren't strong enough to compete with Illit and BM yet
- H2H : They are able to enter the chart everytime they release a song but their charting power is still very weak they keep stagnate around 50-80 but they have a big selling power with +400K album which make them equal to Illit in selling
- Kiss of life : They had some hit with igloo, sticky, and midas touch, but their latest comeback all flopped and their sales are still weak to compete with the GG above them
- Kiiikiii : Their debut song did well, but they debuted with heavy promo and none of the other promoted single were able to enter the chart + their sales are closer to KIOF & MEOVV than they are from the other GG of the list
-
-
-
Personally, I don’t view popularity solely through chart performance I also consider how well the members are recognized or talked about. For example, take H2H: their songs may not perform as well on the charts as MEOVV’s, but members like Carmen, Ian, and Ana seem to be more known or frequently mentioned on social platforms and in Korean media compared to MEOVV’s members. Or take KiiiKiii their debut song actually did better on Korean charts than BABYMONSTER’s, but I don’t think any of the members made as much noise or gained as much recognition as someone like Ahyeon or Asa.
So when I think of popularity, I also think about how familiar people are with the individual members of a group.
-
Hot Take: ILLIT do NOT deserve to be top 2. Arguably not top 3.
They debuted with a smash hit, with their company blatantly stealing plays from the literal NewJeans playbook, but every comeback since then (all 2 of them) has seen significant declines in their numbers across the board, and even their debut album had something like 100k returns.
I don't know how ANYONE could have them at the top today.
Is this about popularity or success? Magnetic is a top kpop song of the decade and their name is attached to the song. They're a Hybe group and there's a ton of media articles about the group. I will say by default they're the most popular group, but it doesn't mean they're the most successful.
Edit - I will say none of the 5th gen groups are that popular if we're being honest. There's nobody that is individually popular unless we're talking about the female members in ADP. They seem to be the ones that are making names for themselves, but we don't hear much about individuality among the 5th gen groups.
-
Hot Take: ILLIT do NOT deserve to be top 2. Arguably not top 3.
They debuted with a smash hit, with their company blatantly stealing plays from the literal NewJeans playbook, but every comeback since then (all 2 of them) has seen significant declines in their numbers across the board, and even their debut album had something like 100k returns.
I don't know how ANYONE could have them at the top today.
Yeah, people might not be that into ILLIT’s songs, but they still know who the members are
-
Personally, I don’t view popularity solely through chart performance I also consider how well the members are recognized or talked about. For example, take H2H: their songs may not perform as well on the charts as MEOVV’s, but members like Carmen, Ian, and Ana seem to be more known or frequently mentioned on social platforms and in Korean media compared to MEOVV’s members. Or take KiiiKiii their debut song actually did better on Korean charts than BABYMONSTER’s, but I don’t think any of the members made as much noise or gained as much recognition as someone like Ahyeon or Asa.
So when I think of popularity, I also think about how familiar people are with the individual members of a group.
For girl groups making their initial impact and trying to establish themselves as a big player in the industry, I don't think there is anything remotely as important as getting a hit song. It changes the entire perception, trajectory and opportunities for the group.
If NewJeans didn't have the greatest chart success we've honestly EVER seen, starting from their rookie year, with 2 songs from that era still clinging to the charts 3 years later, they wouldn't be so highly sought after by every major brand out there.
It's not just the fact that Magnetic is ILLIT's only major hit, but that their trajectory since then has been downward. That is the exact opposite of what you hope to see from a new girl group. The follow up to a major hit is just as important as the hit itself, and it can be the biggest determining factor in your trajectory.
NewJeans followed Attention and Hype Boy with freaking Ditto.
IVE followed Eleven with Love Dive
Twice followed LOA with Cheer Up and TT
ILLIT had Cherish. And their new song isn't faring much better.
And the public DOESN'T know them. Only K-Pop fans do. They're still very much nugu in the general public.
Is this about popularity or success? Magnetic is a top kpop song of the decade and their name is attached to the song. They're a Hybe group and there's a ton of media articles about the group. I will say by default they're the most popular group, but it doesn't mean they're the most successful.
Edit - I will say none of the 5th gen groups are that popular if we're being honest. There's nobody that is individually popular unless we're talking about the female members in ADP. They seem to be the ones that are making names for themselves, but we don't hear much about individuality among the 5th gen groups.
See above.
-
Babymonster ( bad charting in Korea when compared to bp and 2ne1 but great compared to their 5th gen peers. No gg has two songs go top15 on all charts. They absolutely rule Spotify,apple music and YouTube with zero competition. Even physical sales they r best.)
-- wall of china--
Illit/meovv/h2h (all have very similar numbers across korean charts and Spotify on their recent comeback, actually maybe illit above meovv and h2h because Japan support. Tbl messed up meovv potential very obviously seeing how ADP with famous has out done their existence on this planet. Only one song has gone top20 on kcharts. H2h very slow start but I don't think they are all that behind overall when u see their songs charting same level in Korea like meovv and illit except magnetic and hands up. Even Spotify is same except those outliner songs.)
--Barrier--
Kiikiii(no one remembers them)
-
-
Display More
Babymonster ( bad charting in Korea when compared to bp and 2ne1 but great compared to their 5th gen peers. No gg has two songs go top15 on all charts. They absolutely rule Spotify,apple music and YouTube with zero competition. Even physical sales they r best.)
-- wall of china--
Illit/meovv/h2h (all have very similar numbers across korean charts and Spotify on their recent comeback, actually maybe illit above meovv and h2h because Japan support. Tbl messed up meovv potential very obviously seeing how ADP with famous has out done their existence on this planet. Only one song has gone top20 on kcharts. H2h very slow start but I don't think they are all that behind overall when u see their songs charting same level in Korea like meovv and illit except magnetic and hands up. Even Spotify is same except those outliner songs.)
--Barrier--
Kiikiii(no one remembers them)
i think H2H have the potential to quickly explode if SM start to actually care about them and not treat them as a second thought
they literally had 1 week of promo before the comeback, the promotion started so late that i saw so many people askin themselves if the comeback wasn't delay and SM forgot to inform them
their song kinda had a viral moment thanks to their live promo
but they are doing no Tk tok challenge with other artist to make it more viral besides SM artist
-
This is difficult. What are you basing the popularity on? Is it strictly charting / album sales. Does following and views play apart
You decide.
I refuse to complete this assignment for you.
These are more interesting when I don't try to restrict and control for criteria according to my standards. I like to see what everyone cooks up from their own perspectives.
-
Taking everything into consideration my list is: (trying to not be bias lol)
3 - H2H
4 - KK
IMO there’s not big gaps in any field and where one group lacks another excels in visa versa!
BM has the biggest fandom but H2H are not far behind (in views and charting) considering they just debuted a few months ago. Meovv are consistent when charting but Illit has the biggest hit and their most recent comeback is still rising/ doing well!
Have to wait to see how BM does this comeback and KK was off to a great start too
Kiss OL were doing so great so will be interesting to see what happens to them going forward!
I think the list will be very different by the end of year especially with newer groups blowing up and 2025 rookies gaining momentum quickly
-
-
Participate now!
Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!
