10th Anniversary of SNSD's the Boys - was it SNSD's greatest success , or the beginning of the end?

Since Taeyeon is mentioned again, I will mention the Boys.

The Boys is arguably SNSD's greatest triumph.

It was specifically created to appeal to the US fans, using a song from Teddy Riley, who produced songs for Michael Jackson.

It did great, selling 1 million copies in Japan.

This song was unlike any SNSD songs before, following the so called SMP rhythm religiously. Still, it showed how powerful SNSD was, and it shut out Wonder Girls once for all, and WG did not recover until just before it ended in 2016.

However, at that time SM execs valued boy groups more than girl groups, and some elements in there wanted to check SNSD's continued success because that might harm its male acts.

That led to SM's greatest stab in the back , whose impact is still felt today.

In the SNSD repackage, aimed to cement SNSD's position in KPop once for all, the SM execs refused to put a new song into as a title, but put Mr Taxi, which was already released in Japan and all the SONEs already knowing that song, as its title.

Not surprisingly , since quite a lot of people already knew the song, that did not do to well and more ,

something happened - the die hard SONEs, disgusted about what SM did , shunned the repackage.

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At that time IU was seen as a one hit wonder and was not considered to be SNSD's equal.

She just got lucky with Good Day, and historically one hit wonders just faded after one song.

However, because of the behaviors of SM, Korea's domestic fans supported IU and even the diehard SONEs gave up fighting the singer who was just a guest in Taeyeon's radio show 12 months before.

So, when IU and SNSD collided on Dec 09 , 2011, probably the most decisive day in Kpop history which ensured SM would not be leading KPop's initiative,

IU defeated SNSD.

The Boys made all these achievements,

but in the end it would be remembered as the song which was beaten by IU, and made her the equal of SNSD.

SNSD had sold 1 million albums

and IU had sold 80,000 copies of Last Fantasy (the album which contained You & I)[IU's albums tend to be sold long after its promotion so ultimately it has sold about 130,000 copies]

but in the eyes of the K-O-R-E-A-N-S

IU was now the equal to SNSD

Happiness turned into despair

Victory turned into Defeat

and SNSD now had a rival which it ultimately could not vanquish.

That was the biggest impact the Boys left.

Quote from snsdlegend

Not only the boys but 2011 is definitly snsd year where they put their league on whole other level among k-group. They conquering everywhere with their korean comeback and their first japan album. Sold out arena too. I’m glad that i be the witness for that glory year.

Yes but it was to be the start point for something bigger, like entry to USA.

However, SM execs fixated upon boy groups ruined the chance.

Quote from pwswan

I'm still convinced that SM should have disbanded SNSD after the black ocean, so The Boys should never have existed.

The Boys has the distinction of being trampled over by Lee Jieun's You & I, making Lee Jieun belong to the same league as SNSD>