BRAVE GIRLS NOW ROLLIN’ IN FAME
The video, which has drawn more than 13.5 million views and over 38,000 comments, is now tagged “queen of the music streaming charts including the Gaon Chart and the Billboard K-pop 100.”
Korean group Brave Girls is on top of the K-pop charts, but only February, it was on the verge of disbanding.
The members decided to hang on after a video of performances of their song “Rollin’” that their agency, Brave Entertainment, uploaded it on YouTube later that month.
By the first week of March, the video had gone viral. Its rousing scenes of soldiers dancing to the song brough cheer to real soldiers, as well as young men undergoing mandatory military service.
Practically unknown in South Korea after the original group was launched in 2011, the Brave Girls quartet mainly performed at distant military camps, which did not really pay well, which was why the group wanted to give up.
Korean news sites report that the compilation video featured witty captions and comments like, “If we play this song at the front lines, victory is ours,” alongside scenes of soldiers frantically cheering and dancing to the upbeat track.
The video, which has drawn more than 13.5 million views and over 38,000 comments, is now tagged “queen of the music streaming charts including the Gaon Chart and the Billboard K-pop 100.”
According to the Korea Music Content Association, which manages the Gaon Chart, the song has dominated the No. 1 position for two consecutive weeks on the streaming chart, and topped the digital chart from 14 to 20 March, beating out Lim Young-woong’s “My Starry Love.”
“Rollin’” has also topped Billboard’s K-pop 100 chart, toppling IU’s “Celebrity,” which was No. 1 for seven weeks.
According to Billboard, “Rollin’” is only the third song from a girl group to reach No. 1 after Oh My Girl’s “Nonstop” and Blackpink’s “How You Like That.”
Brave Girls’ current members are Minyoung, Yujeong, Eunji and Yuna. Not one of them was with the original quintet formed in 2011. However, there were years when the group became a septet, until the present quartet.
When the video went viral, the girls’ management waited to see if the success would last.
But then the Brave Girls began receiving a flood of invitations to perform on weekly music shows. On 14 March, the group took home its first-ever win on a South Korean music show for “Rollin.’”
“The entire staff at our company were close to tears,” a Brave Entertainment spokesperson told ABC News recently. “The members could not believe what was happening and said it was like a surprise gift.”
Seoul-based pop culture critic Kim Hern-sik said the Brave Girls’ success story could be attributed to public support.
“Their belated success was not just accidental,” Kim told ABC News. “Brave Girls’ passionate performance at distant military camps finally paid off.”
South Korean websites note that military men comprise a big chunk of the Brave Girls fandom, in a country where male citizens aged 18-28 are required to serve in the military for 18 to 21 months.
The girl group has performed more than 100 times at South Korean military camps, despite the remote locations and low profits.
Many soldiers also watch the Brave Girls on military-run television channels, with restrictions in their use of cell phones.
ABC News talked to a fan of the girls, Lee Hae-chang, who served in the South Korean military. The soldier confided: “Watching them singing and dancing with the most joyful smile on television made us smile as well, despite all the burden left behind... Seeing their recent success with their song ‘Rollin,’ I feel proud as if I have been part of their endeavor throughout the years.”
The Brave Girls have begun to update some of their songs in their previous albums, such as “High Heels,” the title track of their 2016 third mini album.
The girls may yet become an international hit, just like Blackpink and Red Velvet.