BTS was performing well digitally in Korea before making it big in the US

literally no one says BTS wasnt popular in korea in the 2014-16 period

they were just big but niche like exo and not mainstream like they are now

Quote from leavessick

I don’t know why 4th generation groups stans are trying to convince themselves and making it feel better with the:

“ BTS first got big internationally then in Korea so will my fave” narrative.

First time I see this but ok. Whatever floats your boat.

yeah. the first song that put bts on the map was literally boy in luv in 2014. then they had their first digital hit with i need u in 2015. the only think international stans were super boosting at that time were their album sales but that stands for literally all bgs since from 3rd gen onwards so.

whoever told you that bts was weak digitally prior their western success is either an ignorant or a liar. Bts was great at digitals from 2015. Boy in luv was also a hit released in 2014.I need you is a super hit song in korea.a lot of people still know the song. In 2016 bts was the best boygroup digitally. I don't know from where that bs narrative came from. 4th gen bg stans are trying so hard to match their group with rookie bangtan.

People being dumb and don't understanding op point is just... Dumb...

Yes op, I also saw many using this fake excuse to justify their faves going bad in s.k. charts, but it's just a lie as BTS were already doing good!

Plus, it’s kinda dumb to expect a 4th gen bg to blow up in Korea bc of international popularity when BTS has done it already. They were the first to do it, and they’ll always be the first to have done it.

Western popularity won’t be a novelty anymore, it’s super common nowadays for kpop groups to be more popular abroad than domestically now.

Quote from flopppy

4th gen bg stans are trying so hard to match their group with rookie bangtan.

I think this is why.

Quote from nevermindmejin

I think this is why.

They need to try harder.

yeah I've seen some 4th bg fans say that their fave could be like bts, first getting big internationally and then start to chart in Korea when BTS was already in melon top 100 since their first years. too many new fans don't know anything about kpop pre-2018 and it shows.

Quote from 4d-maknae

yeah I've seen some 4th bg fans say that their fave could be like bts, first getting big internationally and then start to chart in Korea when BTS was already in melon top 100 since their first years. too many new fans don't know anything about kpop pre-2018 and it shows.

BTS is unique. No replication.

Yeah, people really miss the point when it comes to BTS's popularity in Korea.

BTS was doing very well in Korea, but because they were from a smaller company, they weren't recognized by the industry, or didn't receive the same respect as groups from the Big 3 would have received with the same success.

Korea ( well, the medias and the industry at least ) didn't want to see BTS's success because it wasn't theirs. International success made it impossible for BTS to be ignored, but K-ARMY aren't bandwagonning I-fans. They were there from the very beginning, I-fans just helped them to pierce the glass ceiling of the industry.

I have no idea is a kpop group will manage to be successful in Korea through I-fans first... seems difficult but not impossible in this day and age.

Their first or debut year was not any good. It was their single boy with luv that made them finally break the mold and I need u sealed the deal.

Daesang in 2015

4th gen stans I doubt even care much for k harts since their faves barely ranks there.

Quote from SandyBee3

Lol...tbh one reason ( I said one reason not sole reason) some of these 4th Gen BG fans might think that way is probably because a lot of BTS fans kinda belittle BTS own achievements pre-2017, just for the sake of a more dramatic sob-story. At least in here.

So it really appears as if they only started to perform well after being nominated at the BBMA in 2017.

They were already upper-Midtier-Group on their way to lower-Toptier-Group in 2015. Just like with the other Top Groups today, they won Rookie of the in MMA and GDA etc. But if you mention this you get told that you are altering history.

I remember kpop fans belittling BTS achievements rather than BTS fans. You can clearly see in this thread and many other threads that AKP ARMYs don't undermine BTS success before 2017. Can't say the same for kpop fans from that time. I mean the responses to the "No Signal controversy" were like "who are BTS?", "can you name their one song?", etc. in 2016 when they had already won a daesang and were the best selling artist. Also they won Album of the Year at MMA 2016 and kpop fans thought it was rigged award even though stats clearly showed who lead during that time. Also not forgetting kpop fans accusing BTS of sajaegi when BTS achieved all kill with 'Fire' in 2015.

You are clearly creating different narratives by blaming BTS fans while hiding kpop fans dumbness before 2016. You have been doing this from a long time so not surprised.