TWICE Surpass 2NE1 As K-Pop Girl Group With Most Views For Debut Music Video, Blackjacks Try To Win Back Crown To No Avail
Ever since their debut on October 7, 2015, TWICE has been making their mark in K-pop. The lovechild of J.Y. Park through the survival show Sixteen, the K-pop idol girl group — Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu — turned heads with their hit debut track “Like OOH-AHH.”
Apparently, the K-pop community loved what TWICE was bringing as their popularity sky-rocketed to the echelon status similar to Girls’ Generation. Within less than a year of their debut, they have accomplished more than what most K-pop idol groups do throughout their careers. They already have more than ten CF contracts, numerous television appearances, and have won awards at the 2015 Golden Disk Awards, Mnet Asian Music Awards 2015, and NAVER V App Awards 2016.
Now TWICE can add another accomplishment to their name. Their music video for “Like OHH-AHH” surpassed the total number of views for 2NE1’s music video “Fire.” This now makes TWICE the K-pop girl group with the most views for a debut music video.
The achievement by TWICE was reported by AllKpop on February 29, 2016. At the time, TWICE’s “Like OHH-AHH” (attached above) had 41.5 million views on YouTube. Upon reaching that amount, they surpassed 2NE1’s “Fire,” which had 41.4 million views at the time, making TWICE the new K-pop girl group to have the most views for a debut music video.
What makes TWICE’s accomplishment amazing is the fact they are still considered rookies only being around for half a year. The “Like OHH-AHH” music video is just a little over four months old, yet it accumulated up to 41.5 million views. “Fire” (the Space Version of which is attached below) by 2NE1 took more than six years to get that amount.
Needless to say, Blackjacks (devoted fans of 2NE1) were not happy with the circumstances. Numerous Blackjack groups on social media, especially the 2NE1 groups on Facebook, rallied together in an attempt to raise the view count for “Fire.” They advertised, promoted, and even made YouTube playlists with nothing but “Fire” multiple times all for their cause. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain, as they were only able to produce about 50,000 more views. “Like OHH-AHH” now as over 42 million views as of the publication of this article.
It should be noted that TWICE hitting the 42 million view mark makes it even more possible they will become the K-pop group in general (both boy and girl groups) to have the most views on YouTube for a debut music video. According to KpopStarz, the honor is currently bestowed on NU’EST with their debut music video “Face” (attached below). If “Like OHH-AHH” continues to rack up views exponentially, TWICE will earn this achievement too as NU’EST’s “Face” has a little over 46 million views.
Just because TWICE’s debut music video “Like OHH-AHH” surpassed in YouTube views to 2NE1’s “Fire,” and most likely NU’EST’s “Face” in the future does not mean their music video is superior. All three debut music videos, in their own style and their own way, are amazing. And to be fair, “Like OHH-AHH” only has a minute number of views compared to the most viewed K-pop music videos on YouTube. Overall, Psy holds the record at 2.5 billion views for “Gangnam Style.” As for K-pop girl groups, Girls’ Generation holds the record at 157 million views for “Gee.”
[Image via TWICE’s Official Facebook Page]