BTS Makes It Onto Billboard Hot 100
BTS is breaking records left and right with their latest mini album, Love Yourself: Her. From YouTube views to physical albums sales, BTS seems unstoppable. But the news I'm most excited for is BTS landing on Billboard's Hot 100.
The title track, "DNA" debuted last week at No. 85, but jumped to No. 67 this week. That makes BTS the highest ranking K-pop group on the Hot 100 ever (surpassing Wonder Girls' No. 76 back in 2009 with "Nobody.")
It's important to mention that there's little English in "DNA." Aside from some random English words and of course the repeat of "DNA," the only significant instance of English is when Suga raps "I want it this love. I want it real love."
This is an incredible feat… seeing a Korean language song chart this high in the U.S. I hope BTS is just the beginning of a new era of K-pop artists charting outside of Korea with Korean-language songs.
K-Pop is All Over Billboard
BTS isn't the only K-pop act having a good week on Billboard. Solo female artist IU took the No. 5 spot on the World Albums Chart with her remake album Flower Bookmark 2.
Boy group B1A4 came in just behind IU at No. 7 with their latest mini album Rollin'.
And after them, one of K-pop's legendary groups SECHSKIES landed at No. 10 with Another Light.
Super group TWICE was honored on Billboard's annual "21 Under 21" list. Billboard called the girl group a "robust collective [that] delivers a combination of catchy hooks, kooky concepts, and choreography."
K-pop is ending the year strong. I can't wait to see what 2018 will deliver.
Seventeen Plagiarism Scandals Galore
Seventeen isn't having a great month… experiencing two plagiarism scandals. In early September, Keone Madrid, a well-known choreographer, took to twitter asking Seventeen to credit for choreography he felt was copied. According to Keone, Seventeen members The8 and Jun's ribbon dance to "My I" was similar to choreography he performed with his wife Mari in June 2016.
Choreography credit is a bit of a gray area. Most K-pop acts don't outright credit a specific choreographer and it can be difficult to claim a trademark on a particular move or concept. Keone deleted his tweet after Seventeen's fans responded unkindly. I've watched both videos several times and they are similar, but does that mean Seventeen stole the idea from Keone? I'll let you decide.
Keone and Mari Madrid - Are You There?
Jun and The8 (Seventeen) - My I
The second scandal involved Seventeen's hit song, "Don't Wanna Cry." And this one has been all but confirmed. Late last month, people began comparing "Don't Wanna Cry" to "Something Just Like This" from The Chainsmokers and Coldplay. If you hear both songs, you can't miss the stark similarities.
It didn't take Seventeen's label, Pledis Entertainment, long to announce they were adding The Chainsmokers and Coldplay to the song credits.
The news got so big, even Billboard reported on it.
This definitely isn't the type of news you want to hear a month before their comeback. For a group that's well known as "self-producing idols," I hope that's the last we hear of plagiarism issues. But I have a feeling it might not be.