3rd-Gen K-Pop Group’s Debut Song Goes Viral After 11 Years, All Thanks To TikTok
Following the explosive global expansion of K-Pop during its second generation, the third generation of groups debuted in the highly competitive market with new promising talents for K-Pop fans to know and love.
In 2012 alone, over 20 new K-Pop boy groups debuted, introducing fans to 3rd-gen favorites such as B.A.P, A-JAX, BTOB, EXO, NU’EST, VIXX, and more.
With a large number of groups debuting each year among already active groups, the chances that each group will reach success and become household names are low. The rise to fame is often a game of talent, luck, and often, the money and resources of the company managing the idols.
Recently, there’s been a rise in idols auditioning for survival programs to get an opportunity for a second chance.
Among those who hoped for a new start were NU’EST’s JR, Baekho, Minhyun, and Ren, who joined season 2 of Produce 101 in 2017 after their recent releases failed to reach commercial success at the time.
Their participation in the program gained a belated appreciation for their discography, and many NU’EST songs climbed back up the charts. Previously released albums were also sold out, cementing the success of their participation on the show, and member Minhyun became a member of the Produce 101 debut group Wanna One.
The group continued to promote together until 2022, when their contracts with Pledis Entertainment expired and only Baekho and Minhyun renewed.
The now-disbanded group is again seeing renewed interest thanks to the popular social app TikTok.
NO WAY aaron knows nuest face is making a comeback and trending these days on tiktok 😂
alexa did a little dancey of face and aaron saw her. he saw somebody doing nuest face challenge n asked him “sunbaenim you dont know?”
this scene is funny LOL@Korean_Cowboys @AleXa_ZB pic.twitter.com/yz0PagiumG— nuventeen (@nuesvtgemini) January 8, 2023
In October 2022, a remixed version of their debut song “Face” went viral on TikTok in Vietnam. The song then began to trend throughout Southeast Asia before once again trending in Korea.
Netizens found that the group has gained over 17,000 unique listeners since their song began to trend on TikTok, according to MelOn.
The song even reached the top of Korea’s TikTok music chart in the first week of December.
Their sudden resurgence on the charts comes after a ten-year journey of successes and heartbreaks and shows the lasting power of the talented group!
Check out their debut song, “Face,” below:
