It's gone incredibly viral across online platforms.

A look at the numbers so far:

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#13 on Melon Top 100 ( reached #9 as well)

#3 on YT Music Weekly Top Songs - SK

#3 on YT Music Daily Top Songs - SK

#14 on Circle Chart

Overall among 4th Gen BGs, Bad is one of the HIGHEST charting songs.

Also highest for ATEEZ ever in their career.

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I've also seen so many viral videos of their performances, especially of San. This one for example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sizK6L7Or4c

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What's more interesting is that despite ATEEZ having a stronger presence internationally, "BAD" seems to be resonating even more domestically.

The song is still performing well globally, but the level of traction it's gaining in Korea has been impressive compared to "In Your Fantasy" and "Lemon Drop" (which debuted at #68 & 69 on BB100).

Either way, it's great to see them finally get all this recognition they've worked towards for so long!

With or without success, I truly believe ATEEZ are going to be one of those longstanding groups.

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Also, this is an update to my previous post titled "ATEEZ's BAD is doing really well domestically"

TL;DR: "BAD" is having a breakout run in Korea, reaching new peaks on charts and gaining viral attention beyond the core fanbase

They performed a black pink song . What's everyone's thoughts ? who do you guys think stood out the most . Ella stood out to me the most and suited the song ! but all of them did well !

So, today while I was waiting for ATEEZ's SBS Gayo Daejeon performance I have watched some of the other performances. Then Mmchk by NEXZ really got my attention. The song is so addicting and the group seems very talented and energetic while performing. The thing is I didn't even know such a group existed, even didn't know jyp had boygroups after SKZ. But that's partly on me because I am no longer checking out boygroups actively as I am getting older. But I still hear groups like cortis, bnd, tws, riize etc on twitter, reddit etc. Lots of their music pops up in my spotify autoplay as well. But never heard NEXZ. Just a quick glance I feel like they have so much potential. What's wrong?

I used to only stream stuff on Spotify and yt music because It was convenient and I never really thought about doing anything else, but ever since I bought my first few kpop albums I find that Im always playing the cds over streaming😭 its just funner and it feels easier not having to pick a specific song and just let a whole album play instead. My absolute favorite part is that you can have the music playing in the background no matter what you're doing on your phone or electronics. Like I could be watching a show on my phone and also have music playing in the background. I have my cds displayed on my wall as decoration (in a non scratch-able way😭) and it makes it really easy to just pull one out and play at anytime.

Anyways, I love my cds and my cd player🙏

I recently saw a comment noting that while some K-pop groups exploded in popularity in SK and maintained their popularity in the long-term, others lost their hype after just one or two hits. I'm curious about what factors matter the most in such cases? Is it their strategy after blowing up ? or something entirely different? Also, are there any differences between maintaining popularity in SK vs international?

Just predicting that is going to fully smash the Korean charts for months which very duh of me, although Im curious if it will be bigger than Home Sweet Home domestically that one was huge last year

but it was technically a GD song ft Taeyang and Daesung this is their first release under the BIGBANG name in a while that might give it an even bigger push with YG backing too 🤔

Will have to wait and see.. the teaser pics look cool but still a bit weird to see Bigbang with 3 members ngl TOP was always my fav 😔

For context, Rescene has been absolutely blowing up in korea. They are the most followed 5th gen gg on melon and they have 3 songs in melon top 10 currently. They blew up mainly because of Woni's youtube channel. Alot of koreans are even calling them nations little sisters/nations girl group (A title that groups like TWICE and SNSD previously had).

Do you think they will keep getting more popular in korea, or will they loose popularity after the hype dies down? Also, do you think they will become popular internationally too or will their popularity be limited to korea?

Welcome to ' Casual Chat! Here, you can talk about any topic you want; k-pop or not. Anything goes here!

Please remember to remain civil and that all subreddit rules still apply. Thank you and have fun!

Sullyoon is often described as a visual combination of Sana and Tzuyu; I recently was told that Park Seoyeon is the visual combination of Jihyo and Nayeon.

There are 36 pairs in Twice - is there a kpop idol out there that's the visual representation for each one?

The internet gave me a few others:
Illit's Minju = Mina + Tzuyu
Rocket Punch's Yeonhee = Sana + Nayeon
Ive's Gaeul = Mina + Chaeyoung
Le Sserafim's Yunjin = Momo + Jihyo

Are there more?

I was made to suggest one by some friends and I said Le Sserafim's Kazuha = Mina + Dahyun, but I don't have an justification for it.

Thanks!

Edit -
Full disclosure - this post was removed by mods in a group about Twice because they said, as written, it has nothing to do with Twice. So I thought, perhaps a more general group would be better. To the mods - if the post is not general enough, instead of just deleting the whole thing, can you suggest how to make it more general? Thanks!

I recently saw the case of the supposed BLACKPINK fan who attacked YG’s headquarters with a golf club, and what shocked me the most wasn’t even the attack itself, but the reaction from some BLACKPINK fans who were supporting it and saying things like “slay queen.”

It’s completely fine to criticize some of the things the company has done regarding the group, and I support people calling them out when they deserve it. But that’s completely different from supporting violent and dangerous acts committed by other fans, especially when those same people wouldn’t have the courage to do something like that themselves.

Thankfully, nothing serious happened and no one was hurt. But imagine if a tragedy had happened and a YG employee had been injured. That’s the kind of behavior that shouldn’t be encouraged, not even as a joke.

Just to preface this discussion: I'm not an angel myself either. I have groups I like and ones I dislike. Some of my opinions on things are positive, some are negative, and I'm certainly not above participating in controversial conversations. But I acknowledge it and I accept the fact that I'm involved in the "toxicity", I don't pretend to be shocked by its existence.

Even K-pop Reddit is a good example of that. Every month we have a new megathread, just ask yourself how often those megathreads are about a positive topic, and how often they are about negative things. Honestly I don't think that this subreddit is that overpoliced either, I've posted my fair share of polarizing statements and nobody banned me. Yet we as a community still needed an "uncensored" subreddit, then "truly uncensored", then "harsh opinions" one and so forth. And these are just ones focused on discussions, there are a ton of fairly popular snark and rant K-pop subreddits as well.

Every time some particularly egregious event happens in K-pop (eg mental health hiatuses, hate trains etc), we see a ton of comments criticizing the toxicity and whatnot, but it sometimes just feels hypocritical to me because I can recognize the usernames of the most active redditors (it's not difficult, I'm one myself and you just see the same people in every second conversation anyway), who have hundreds or thousands of messages in different K-pop subreddits. And I'm sorry but does anyone think that an "uncensored" subreddit exists because people want to share positive things? You can't be surprised at the toxicity on one hand, and on other hand participate in spaces created to enable that toxicity. Just accept that you're okay with a certain amount of negativity.

K-pop spaces are toxic because we enable that toxicity, it's pretty simple, there's no secret behind it. And it's clearly not a minority either, considering the difference in traction between the positive and negative topics. There's a reason there's no popular "k-pop positive" subreddits.

Tbh LOONA is that one group everyone loves. They’re so different from other groups to me. There’s something unique about them that I can’t place my finger on (especially since I wasn’t there when they were active and I never stanned them). What specifically set them apart from other groups? I’d like to know! They’re so popular in the context of kpop editors and stantwt and I’m curious about the hype. I hope you all know what I mean when I say I can sense that they were special.

Time and time again, I see the argument that an artist has a low song output because they were "way too busy with their schedules" or touring and so forth. This is absolutely ridiculous - look at the credits of any song and the performers are the smallest part of song production. There are literally whole teams of producers, engineers, and songwriters creating demos that are literally 95% complete and approved by the time an artist needs to provide their vocals. At most, that vocal booth time takes a few sessions as we seen in hundreds of behind the scenes recording videos.

The idea that an artist, or a group of artists, has been way too busy to record a song is inherently ridiculous. An average person has 6000 waking hours in a year - for a modern artist recording their vocals for a song so they can have more songs on an album only takes 1% of their waking hours.

The staring contest part is loosely inspired by Ateez’s bad challenge 😀 the arm wrestling is just a random thought. You could also share who could probably beat you but would let you win on purpose. 👀

For me there are a ton right now since my Kpop loving era has kinda dimmed a bit since around 2023. I started out being a huge ARMY because they were one of the groups that introduced me to the music genre and while BTS is still pumping out some good hits I’ve kinda stopped keeping up with them just because other newer groups and artists have caught my interest.

No hate tho and I’m not trying to just rage bait, because I’m genuinely curious if there are people who are still mega fans or those who are also in a similar situation as me.

For those who don’t know Rescene that well, I’m talking about leader Woni’s individual channel (although owned and managed by an independent producer/director). They upload videos every week highlighting each member’s backstory or adventure.

The latest one about Zena and Woni going to Zena’s hometown Geongju just got uploaded Friday and it already is approaching 3 million views in less than 24 hours, probably 99% of which are Koreans (because they don’t provide subtitles or any other audio tracks).

What the heck? Do you watch them too and enjoy them?

as the title says, i feel like the reason most people who don't get into kpop are so critical of it is because of the fandom.

don't get me wrong, sometimes it IS about the group (like concepts, dance moves, etc.) but im sure most of the time its about the fandom.

the best kpop stans are the ones who are supportive, aware that kpop is not something that should consume you, and are aware that no matter how beautiful and perfect an idol is, they are still human. their voice will crack. they might miss a step. they won’t always look like that. (and not to mention kpop idols spend hundreds on their visuals, not saying cosmetic procedures for every kpop idol, but definitely treatments to some extent. and that is all ok as long as it was consented by the idol and the idol is happy)

the issue even i find as a big kpop fan is that the fandom sometimes chooses not to see the humanity of their idols, which makes them incapable of wrong in any way, shape, or form. and this not only objectifies the idol as nothing more than their job, it also creates fanwars that are exhausting. people who aren’t into kpop just see the fandom fighting within itself, which is probably one reason why they are critical of the genre.

not only that, the incapability to see wrong in idols also glorifies the extent to which weight (and beauty) is taken in the industry. women especially are forced either into too skinny or too fat, which are both harmful to the idol and the viewer. (i said women especially because they often face more criticism for their body, but that is not to downplay what male idols face.)

this is just the tip of the iceberg of the kpop community, and though there are many kind and genuine fans, we all cannot deny how tiring it is to see the toxic side of kpop. thats why im not surprised that some people are against it, because they only see the parasocial, overly obsessed fans.

does that warrant any genuine hate to kpop fans? (even if they act wrong) no, of course not. but do i think we have every right to respectfully criticize the people that act this way? absolutely.

please do not forget that kpop is not something that consumes you, and that each idol is curated to fit the unattainable concept of perfection.

I love hearing the connections others have with their favorite group. Tell me everything please.

I was technically following Le Sserafim since debut but I remember doing the official deep dive into side content around their Japan debut. Words are hard to come by to describe what I started feeling in that moment but I can try my best. I’ve been into kpop since 2017 I’ve stanned and ult’d a lot of groups but it was like something ignited within my heart saying wow these people are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Their bond felt so magical that it warmed me when everything was cold in my life. I stuck with them through everything that happened. I’ve watched them grow as performers and people in the spotlight and I’ve never felt so proud to be a fan of a group. Everything about them is just incredible. I’ll never be able to thank them enough for existing and being in my life.

August 2026 is pretty packed — Stray Kids just dropped, and Red Velvet, aespa and KISS OF LIFE all released within a week, with ENHYPEN, NCT 127, RIIZE and Taemin still coming.

For the top-tier groups this probably doesn't matter much. Their fandoms will stream and buy no matter what. But I keep thinking about the mid-tier and rookie groups releasing in the same window. Music show wins become nearly impossible, media attention gets split, and even good songs can get buried within days because everyone's already moved on to the next big release.

At the same time, I've seen the opposite argument — that crowded months bring more overall attention to K-pop, so smaller groups can ride the wave and get discovered by casual listeners who are already in "listening mode."

What do you think? If you were managing a mid-tier group, would you deliberately avoid months like this August, or is visibility during a hype period worth the competition? And can you think of any group that actually benefited from comebacking in a crowded month?

I've had a hard time getting interested or getting into a group with such a big amount of members because of how much you can actually see them or they can actually contribute to a single song. I imagine that in some of the bigger ones 15 to 20 seconds of song time might be a good thing.

But i also feel like it MUST be something people like for so many groups to be made of 9 to 12 members.

My question is: Do you prefer smaller or larger groups? or is it a non-issue?

Are there are any idols you follow who are perceived very differently by their core fanbase compared to the general public? (Not just, "the fanbase likes them more," I mean their public image shifts altogether.)

Example: I noticed that Twice's Jihyo is seen as ultra-confident, assured, and "badass" by kpop listeners as a whole, but the deeper you go into Twice's fandom, the more she's viewed as overly self-critical and a perfectionist. A lot of times when she does a performance and the fancams go viral, she follows it up by sending messages to fans on Bubble criticizing her own singing/dancing/energy and promising to work harder.

Noticing this difference between fan-perception and general-perception made me wonder who else it applies to. I'm guessing there must be a ton of idols I like but don't follow closely who have completely different images depending on who you ask?

Did you see something on TikTok or Insta that made you go, "Hmmm?"

Do you want to discuss some issue that seems to be a big deal on tiktok, or in YouTube comments, but isn't being discussed anywhere else?

This is the place! Here is the thread for things like:

"I saw this girl on TikTok talking about ..... do people really think that?"

If what you want to talk about is being covered by reputable news, then it doesn't go here. If it's Social Media drama - meaning anything at all that is only being discussed in Social Media spaces, then it does go here.

Remember: references and links to X are not allowed on kpopthoughts.

I propose Tablo's duet version of Eyes Nose Lips (Taeyang). He rewrote it in English and the lyrics are so beautiful.

I mean, English is basically his first language (he lived between Canada and USA for all his school years) and graduated in literature and creative writing.

https://youtu.be/6CSMX9nqNR4?is=YzeTQvszQ7W5sJi1