QWER, born and raised on YouTube, takes over ‘Hometown’ in just one year

MUSIC Dec 12, 2024

Translation

On the 23rd, the band QWER‘s 2nd mini-album ’Algorithm‘s Blossom’ release commemorative showcase was held at Yes24 Wonderlock Hall in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. QWER‘s Chodan, Magenta, Hina, and Siyeon are posing.
On the 23rd, the band QWER‘s 2nd mini-album ’Algorithm‘s Blossom’ release commemorative showcase was held at Yes24 Wonderlock Hall in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. QWER‘s Chodan, Magenta, Hina, and Siyeon are posing.
As expected, they were ‘Born on YouTube’.

The four-member girl band QWER, who caused a band craze on the K-pop stage, took first place in ‘Most Popular Song of the Year’ on YouTube in South Korea with their mega hit song ‘Overdose’. Formed in October of last year through the YouTube content ‘My Favorite Kids’, they have taken over YouTube, which is considered a trend-centered platform, in just one year and two months.

According to the ‘This Year‘s Trend List’ announced by YouTube Korea on the 12th, QWER’s ‘Overdose’ took first place in ‘Most Popular Song’ among four categories: ▲Popular Topics ▲Most Popular Creators ▲Most Popular Songs ▲Most Popular Shorts Songs.

This category ranked songs that were released this year or showed notable growth compared to the previous year based on the number of domestic views. aespa‘s ‘Supernova’, Illit’s ‘Magnetic’, and (G)I-dle‘s ‘I Hate Being Hurt’ ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, followed by Rosé & Bruno Mars’ ‘Apartment’, and Tours‘ ‘First Meeting Didn’t Go As Planned’.

Group QWER is performing the title song ‘Worry Addiction’ at the press showcase to commemorate the release of their first mini-album ‘Manito’ held at Yes24 Wonderlock Hall in Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Reporter Joo Hyun-hee teth1147@donga.com
Group QWER is performing the title song ‘Worry Addiction’ at the press showcase to commemorate the release of their first mini-album ‘Manito’ held at Yes24 Wonderlock Hall in Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Reporter Joo Hyun-hee teth1147@donga.com
Among K-pop fandoms, there is a reaction that QWER‘s result of beating out global idol groups like aespa, (G)I-dle, and Rosé is groundbreaking. Unlike other groups who had been ’trainees‘ for a long time, QWER was made up of SNS streamers and had been prejudiced in some quarters that they would have a hard time doing well because they featured band music that was considered non-mainstream when they debuted. However, they were able to dispel any suspicions that might have been raised about them as they proved their popularity on YouTube, a measure of trends.

This result is also being interpreted as a reflection of QWER’s explosive growth this year. QWER rose to 3rd place on Melon‘s ’Top 100‘ with the title song ’Worry Addiction‘ from their first mini-album ’Manitto‘ released in April, and also had successive hits with ’Fake Idol‘ and ’My Name is Clear‘ from their second mini-album ’Algorithms Blossom‘ released in September. Thanks to this, they have also become the main characters of the ‘band boom’ that swept the K-pop stage this year along with Day6.

YouTube is also encouraged by the ‘super hit’ of QWER, who were born and raised on YouTube. YouTube Korea explained through the ‘Global Culture and Trend Report’, “QWER’s #1 spot as a result of YouTube content shows that YouTube is not just a place to showcase the music of existing artists, but also a stage where new stars are born.”

Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com
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