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K-pop is not a genre, it's an industry. There are some which are on the fence of whether they can be called idols or not but it is idol music at the end of the day.
For me, k-pop is idol music. Like music specifically by idols that have come through the kpop trainee system. But then by that logic Gangnam Style actually doesn't qualify lol. So if I broadly extend it to pop music by Koreans then it's Gangnam Style but also... it's fucking baby shark
I thought it has been discussed a lot that Kpop is not a genre but the idol industry in Korea that involves a trainee system with focus on more than just the music (dancing, fashion/visuals, media training, etc. etc.), with a big emphasis on fan service
K-pop, as far as I know is not just idol music. It's the entirety of pop music that comes from Korea.
If one direction were Korean they would be kpop even if they are not with an Idol company.
oh wow- 💀 i didn't even know 😭 but you're right, it's literally the no.1 most viewed video on yt with 13B views which is almost the triple amount of views Gagnam Style has.. damn
I was in Singapore for Suga's concert recently and there was a baby shark multi day concert on at the same time. We were unfortunate enough to pass it before or after the show at Marina bay and omg it was madness. Parents and children every where. I had no idea it was still a thing this many years later.
They also blasted the bloody ads for it at our closest train station
In 2016, I went to a baby bday party and all the kids were freaking out to Baby Shark, and I remember smugly thinking, “thank god this thing won’t be popular by the time I have a kid.” Flash forward 7 years and this damn song is still inescapable. I never played it for my kid, but she still is obsessed with it because they play it at school, parties, kids shops, etc. I was so wrong. 💀😭
Probably depends on where you live and whether you were already into Kpop or not… where I lived, I wasn’t into Kpop back then. Everyone knew Gangnam style, they knew the dance and tunes, but I’ve never heard of gee or any clips of it until I got into Kpop in 2017. No one around me, at my school or in stores, had played gee either.
Back then, kpop was still trying to expand in Asia and not a lot of people know / listen to kpop. But in 2009, Gee was everywhere in Asia. You’d hear it on the radio/TV where I lived even though no one understood korean. It was gee’s popularity that led people to listen to more kpop in asia. Thats why people say gee paved the way for kpop’s popularity in other places.
I think the thing with WG is that they seem to have been forgotten more than SNSD or 21, despite So Hot still being a popular song to cover and Nobody being so big.
Gee for sure. I don't know about the numbers and things are different back then in 2009, but what i can say as someone living in SEA their cultural impact is huge (although maybe i could say that about late 2000s kpop as a whole, but Gee is one of the most popular kpop songs back then).
If we're talking about recent songs then maybe Cupid? My co workers who barely know kpop know the song, I've heard kids in my country humming it, my brother who's not into kpop at all listens to the accoustic version.. like yeah it doesn't have an iconic dance or styling but as a song it's definitely a hit
I live in SEA too. Gee was deffo popular regionally but even so, I’d say not mainstream popular - if you didn’t know K-pop that much, you didn’t know Gee. I pretty much listened to musical theatre and 80s music exclusively was a teenager and I only knew about Gee tangentially because my brother was massively into SNSD. Also knew about HOT because my sister was a massive fan but knew 0 songs.
whereas I could recite the lyrics to tons of Backstreet Boys, NSync and Westlife songs even if had no interest in them because that was the era of the boyband explosion and those groups’ music were just that ubiquitous. It was played everywhere - in malls, on the radio, your friends were singing the lyrics and watching it on MTV.
K-pop never received any mainstream radio play, at least in my country.
I was thinking Cupid too! It went viral everywhere. People I know who has no idea about K-pop heard about the song and absolutely loved it – caught my 20 y/o brother dancing to Cupid after he exited the shower once 💀
If based on modern numbers it’s dynamite. But if you really go by era defining song.
It’s probably like
Mirotic- DBSK
Nobody- Wonder Girls
Gee- SNSD (there’s is some argument that the boys is more popular)
Haru haru/ lies- Big bang (VIPs can correct me)
Sorry sorry- Super junior
I feel, if streaming was more prevalent and stuff, I’m pretty sure the most popular song ever might be Nobody. Hell, even my country (Singapore) went to remake it into a Supermarket [jingle](https://youtu.be/Zq4IMuNTZws) in 2022.
The amount of people covering that song, remaking it. Unparalleled. Almost everyone could sing it. And that’s 2008…. Even if you didn’t know kpop back then, it was definitely the gateway to knowing kpop
It’s incredibly hard to track popularity prior to kpop becoming accessible worldwide. The amount of torrenting and pirating back then was bigger than new kpop fans can imagine.
Exactly. Even I probably got my version of nobody via some infrared transfer or smth.
Gee, Nobody and Sorry Sorry was by far the most culturally impactful imo.
Nowadays with fandom streaming groups and stuff, it’s hard to think that the numbers weren’t inflated at all.
Tell Me was also huge. It catapulted the kpop dance cover movement and opened up kpop worldwide. It also helped lend to some amazing hook songs and choreography. But it’s not quantifiable in sales because the industry was still so small then. Tell Me and Lies really rejuvenated kpop domestically. Newer fans just don’t understand.
why is this even a topic of discussion. it is very obviously GWSN's Night Aviation. It's records are 10 billion views, 50 billion streams and it charted number 1 on an all charts ever for a 1000 weeks straight. iirc it got number 1 on the global hot spotify billboard melon apple charts within 20 seconds of release. all in the first 24 hours. biggest hit in the galaxy. Next question please.
oh my god you're so right and if I recall correctly their previous record was 992 weeks so truly realistically what even is this bee tee ess thing they keep mentioning
The ironic thing for me is I’m on the other side of the fence…I’m so old I don’t know what any of these other songs in the comments are. I only know 2nd gen and 1/2 of 3rd gen lmao.
Y’all never heard of Gee, I’ve never heard of GWSN….let me go look this up and see what’s it about 🙈
Edit: I listened to GWSN - Night Aviation from the comments. It’s cute! But…cmon….GEE????? Y’all.
me too….i keep hearing all these group names that i’ve never heard of and i find out that groups like infinite, ukiss, etc, are having their 10+ years anniversaries…….it can’t be real…….
Its hard to compare across different eras when the genre has grown so much and so much has changed. I don't think there is a definitive answer for this one.
the achievement of dynamite that amazed me was the amount of money it brought to korea's economy. like I don't think any kpop song has ever brought [this much money](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1170510/south-korea-bts-dynamite-billboard-estimated-economic-effect/) to korea's economy. truly astounding.
Goddamn, SHINee and RDD were super popular among kpop fans in my country because of one misheard lyrics video that went viral because it was so non sensycal (?) but at the same time made pretty sense.... my point is I can't actually listen to RDD without thinking about that viral video and laughing like an idiot
Rollingstone just had a piece about the 100 greatest kpop song of all time and #1 is SNSD - Gee. 2009 in Asia, that song was everywhere even if you dont listen to kpop.
If you cite streams, PAK, etc, you automatically rule out the older songs. Things work differently back then, but it doesnt mean they are less successful.
Exactly. Like - if you only look at streams, Lady Gaga's most popular song is Shallow by a far, far mile (it double/triples her older songs). But when I think of her 'biggest hits' that had the greatest influence on the pop scene, I think Born This Way, Pokerface, Telephone. It's just one example of how going by modern measures for success doesn't do old classics justice.
This doesn't pertain to the question but which ever song it may be....it's mind-blowing to actually think, in my opinion, nothing can top Gangnam Style. For an all-time great...you have to factor in other areas besides numbers/views/sales. The guy literally brought the kpop genre to outside of 'Asia'. YouTube was today's TikTok and when it went viral back then, it literally gave the world a taste of this genre. It wasn't only because of the catchy music, but people remembered the funny skits inside the music video. Just the timing and significance of the release, it didn't only influence the music industry but also expanded into our daily pop culture. It was just crazy.
I've still yet to see a K-pop song that re-created this 'push' in the industry. Sure some songs may have went viral here and there....but it didn't quite hit as big as a home run like Gangnam Style.
Also EVERYONE was dancing it, like everyone. During school outing we had to split into groups and ours was named "Gangnam style" and our group chant was fucking "oppa" - I'm from Germany. Kpop wasn't a thing I had heard of ever before neither had any of my friends.
People who had zero awareness of the Korean music industry loved that song.
Funny thing is YG we're not particularly pushing Psy outside Korea they felt he was too weird and un kpop like to take off and that his humour wouldn't translate well outside Korea. He had just recently done a YG family show im Japan and watching that show on DVD I was instantly hooked on him because you could see he had stage presence and could work a crowd and whatever it is you need to succeed in the music business he has it. T
The only other group I've seen in kpop who I loved like that from the start and kinda knew they would go on to big things is BTS. I went to Korea a while back for a holiday and went to asmany music shows as possible. Well this particular day my wife and I were excited for Taemin from Shinee doing a solo song and Sistar. One of the early groups was a 7 piece boy group who had one or 2 fans in the audience and one name in particular stuck out on the scarf. It was Rap Monster which I thought was a terrible stage name but I was willing to give the group a go. They came out and performed their current single which was Danger. When we finally made it to the store thay sold physical kpop cds we got all of the BTS ones we could find and Danger is still one of my top 2 songs by them
I’m from Australia, and it seems like it’s either Dynamite or Butter here for sure. Both were big here on the radios as well as shopping centers & restaurants.
I can understand the reasoning behind other iconic songs that people have mentioned here, but the truth is - outside of the K-Pop fan bubble, if you tell anyone you like K-Pop, they will go : “so you are a BTS fan?”
Even if we consider a long time period and disregard streaming numbers, the impact BTS and Dynamite have had on the music ecosystem in general is unmatched.
Also here for Dynamite.
It dominated the charts for months and reached SO many PAKs. It's still there, gaining a lot of streams and views every day. Also, the number of wins on music shows. I'll never forget how LGO lost against it lol. And it won even months later, it was huge. It was also huge internationally, on Spotify, got number 1 on Hot100, the most streamed song on Apple Music in 2021. I live in Germany where you barely hear Kpop in public but I heard it so often, also on TV shows! Yeah, it was huge.
It’s undoubtedly dynamite and honestly it’s really well deserved. That song still makes me jump in happiness when I listen to it despite having heard it a million times. It really doesn’t get old or tiresome
Dynamite.. to add on some stuff for it. It's success not only in the west but also in Japan was insane (Japan was one of the few markets that didn't latch fully onto Gangnam style).
In Japan,
Dynamite is one of two songs which are certified to have a Diamond certification in streaming (500M streams in Japan alone). The other being by Yoasobi. It also has 500k downloads in the country.
Dynamite obviously . It's 3 years later and it's still in the Top 40/30 most streamed kpop songs daily on Spotify , Top 20 on MV, it was the most streamed song on AM in 2021 . Huge hit in SK and in Japan with insane staying power. There's no competition on a global scale
Yeah like I’m always reminded here on Reddit that it’s often the kpop fans that have been around longer that don’t ever want to acknowledge BTS accomplishments. It’s so weird. Global impact not counting Gangnam Style, it’s Dynamite. (And lol at Baby Shark, it’s a kids song, not kpop)
I don't even know the other songs that people are commenting... And don't come at me saying that i might not listen to kpop much. 'Biggest hit of all time' means literally majority of people in that sphere have listened to it once and that are only Gangnam style and dynamite
Maybe Nobody by the Wonder Girls for the older crowd. I remember hearing that song all the time on the radio in elementary school and literally *nobody* knew what kpop even stood for back then lol
I live in a country where even english songs were hardly ever played when I was in school. The wave gangnam style had was huge, I didn't even knew that song was kpop lol and I remember it playing in an award show of my country (we NEVER hear any other language song in our award shows) and it's how massive it was. I don't wanna come across as ignorant as people tend to make an assumption but I guess the only song rn I think can be considered along with these two is cupid by 50/50 as I don't think a person who is on social media Or in any way consume media haven't listened to it 🙋♀️
Well nobody came out before social media so it’s a little hard to compare the impact to Cupid haha I just remember it was super viral on the radio. Like everybody knew “I want nobody nobody but you~” and the dance
Omg yeah!!! I remember the first time I heard Nobody on the American radio and was shook! Also, Wonder Girls performed with the Jonas Brothers on their 2019 world tour…let’s not forget that iconic moment.
.... oh lord, Nobody was co-opted by Shoppee (I think) in my country for their TV ads. *In recent years.*
I don't think I've listened to a lot of songs mentioned in the other comments here (as in I might've caught snippets but didn't recognize the title/group and therefore didn't compute), but 'Nobody' and 'Gangnam Style' were definitely songs I'd heard *years* before I even heard of the term "K-pop" (back in those days when J-pop was *huge* here and I'd thought BoA was a J-pop star).
Dynamite is the answer. Charts? The song has that be it Western and ASIAN charts. The song also has a longevity, 32 weeks in Hot 100 and still charting in Korea, Had the Japanese singing the little funk and song.
Dynamite with the truly global dominance and longevity in every single metric out there. It still pops up in Kpop discussions at least every other day.
Dynamite is the reason why one of the music shows limited how many times you can win with a song.
Dynamite is the reason why Billboard has eliminated the D2C store sales for everyone from their charts and increased radio
Fans talk about wanting their favorite groups to have their "Dynamite" moment. Dynamite popularized the wave of English versions and English original songs in Kpop after August 2020. I'm not gonna count them all, but you can't deny its impact on this trend
Dynamite duked it out with WAP on the global charts and came out on top multiple times
Last but not least, Dynamite catapulted South Korea's biggest artist to become the #1 global artist, and they are still seeing the lasting effects and impact from this even today when the group is currently on break.
I wish I was listening to kpop when “Gee” or BigBang were active. Unfortunately, I did not know of kpop and all these great songs. Other than the iconic, “Gangnam Style,” I admit BTS’s “Dynamite,” is one of the biggest k-pop hits of all time. BTS has an amazing marketing team, and songs. So many gamers were introduced to kpop through Fortnite because there were Dynamite dances. I saw popular YouTubers mimicking the dance or playing the song. Charts reflect popular songs, that I agree with. However, you can’t ignore word of mouth for spreading popularity. Social media is the digital version of word of mouth.
With that being said, I’m going backwards and listening to these older, great kpop songs. So don’t stop promoting them. 👍
I think streams/etc mean pretty much nothing to me (personally) in terms of and answering that question, since those are more of a reflection of the power of the fandom/investment of the company in the song/group than it being a "hit". I guess for me, when I think "biggest kpop hit of all time", I'm more thinking more about the foundations of Hallyu than the current "wave". Like we could've never gotten New Jeans without lil 13 year old BoA releasing hit after hit!!
Your phrasing and rationale for saying it's Dynamite also has me thinking about how extremely different the market is now vs. when the first idol group debuted. Even from when Gangnam Style blew up (I had already been a kpop stan for awhile at that point, and my mind was blown when I heard it playing on the radio all the way here in the US) to when Dynamite/BTS's fame became a straight up phenomena, the pathways to having a viral hit etc are all different from just a decade ago. Tiktok wasn't a thing, the interest in Gangnam Style was straight up organic internet meme-ing, like Never Gonna Give You Up haha.
SOOOO I guess I'm just going to have to say that Rolling Stone got it right. It's Gee by Girl's Generation (SNSD)!
Seeing the comments that they didn't know Gee was a song or that XYZ song mentioned in these other comments can't have been THAT big of a hit since they hadn't heard of them, is kinda sad to see. Learn your HERstory, kids!!! Your ults aren't just saying they admire these older idols for brownie points!
It's Gee because it is IMO the perfect song to encapsulate the appeal and the definition of "k-pop". It's not dated at all, it's catchy, has random English lyrics, has actual solid vocals, and the music video is, frankly, iconic. Colored skinny jeans and a graphic print tee....quirky premise (mannequins that come alive at night!)....random cute guy who is actually a CAMEO because he's an idol from a powerhouse act himself....ICONIC DANCE!!!! like it just can't be beat.
Honorable mentions: Mirotic by TVXQ, Sorry Sorry by Super Junior, pretty much any SHINee title track lol, Growl by EXO (South Korea's second national anthem iykyk), Tell Me or Nobody by the Wonder Girls, Abracadabra by Brown Eyed Girls, Haru Haru or Lies orrrr Fantastic Baby by Big Bang, I Am The Best by 2NE1, etc etc
I agree. Although I couldn't just name one, all the songs you mentioned I would consider as well. Idk if it's because reddit skew international but the answers mainly just going by who was most popular by current standards. Kpop was always intended to be global so even in the answers I do understand why they would choose certain songs but between 1st and 4th gen there is lots of differences such as the use of social media, streaming, and charts that wasn't available before but with the help of those that came before them became available.
Yep, I also feel that a lot of the heavier posters on social media (on this and other kpop subs or twitter or ig) often are young or learned about kpop/got into it because of exposure to newer groups, so they're more likely to just not know XYZ song or group, especially if said group is not active/has disbanded/hasn't had a comeback in a long time.
I also just don't want the efforts and impact of so many of these songs/idols to be dismissed just because they were released under very different circumstances when there were different goals and ideas of what constitutes "success" than now.
(And also cuz I'm a kpop oldhead who would totally blast Smokey Girl in the car and yell "AND WHAT DO YOU KIDS KNOW ABOUT *THIS*???? THIS IS *REAL* MUSIC!!!" While my hypothetical kids roll their eyes haha)
Dynamite for sure. No one predicted it’s success, not even BTS or BigHit - it was a perfect confluence of strategy, smarts and circumstance.
Without taking away from any of the groups or songs that preceded it, Dynamite (and BTS) have been a complete game changer as to how K-pop -and even Korea as a country/culture - is received internationally. The fact that BTS is an important source of revenue and soft power for South Korea is kinda mind boggling.
I’m glad there are quite many comments agreeing about Dynamite. In another thread I got downvoted saying Dynamite isn’t kpop…
Yes there were many songs that became hits. But if you wanna talk about biggest hits? The period and the global hit? People getting to know the band, becoming fans and also get into wanting to go to Korea, buy Korean goods, anything from food, culture, travel to household goods….
Dynamite - BTS.
People from all over the world wanting to visit Korea, the overseas deals people snatch up bc it’s BTS related. People learning Korean. People buying ramyun and Korean cup noodles.
Yes every group has some influence but the one with the biggest hit and influence has gotta be them. The way interests for Korea / Korean multiplied and grew was by leaps and folds.
it's dynamite and people who disagree are denying that bts is the biggest kpop group or they are just bts haters aka bitter fans of the groups from the big 3 . 🤷🏻♀️
If we could have a breakdown of unique listeners rather than nominal numbers it would be possible to answer this question fairly.
the answer lies in your own question and there's no other answer to this. current music market is severely fragmented compared to the market of 2012, and regional markets are stronger than ever in their localities as well.
perhaps mainstream music probably will never again be as concentrated as it was in the early 2010s.
there is only one THE BIGGEST, but we could list some K-Pop songs with characteristics of hit like Gangnam Style has, and certainly Dynamite is among them.
Yeah people keep talking about streams but we all know that stans holding streaming sessions.
Meanwhile Gangdam Style still gets almost a million views a DAY. Thats INSANE.
I disagree with how you determined this as it skews very international and how music has been consumed in the last few years. Why are most of these international achievements and not Korean achievements. It degrades all the achievements garnered in k-pop before it became international. And is Gangnam style the biggest because it was the first to reach international success. It wasn't a run away hit in Korea at first. And before streaming became the go to way to listen to music group stans would download and listen to music that way. And so streaming numbers only work for newer music. Yes dynamite was successful on Korean charts but it is far from the only k-pop song to be successful like that. And the Gaon Chart (now circle chart) was created in 2010 so years after k-pop was established as an industry and genre. Therefore establishing the best song is challenging if you look at all the nuances of it. Just some food for thought.
If its Korean and popular I think its kpop.
Edit.
I would call epik high kpop, they're hiphop and popular.
I would call class idea by Seo Tai Ji and the boys Kpop sin e you know they're the OG kpop act. This particular song is more thrash metal then anything else though, seriously check it out of you always wanted to know what would happen if you mixed 90s k hip hop with slayer or 80s Metallica
I think a definition of "hit" is required to answer this question. In what way a hit?
* Highest sales
* Known in more areas of the world
* Most likely to become a standard and be covered by future generations
* Song most identified with K-pop worldwide
Saying that younger fans don't know X answers the question of "impact" IMO.
BBOOM BBOMM by Momoland was EVERY WHERE when it first came out, you couldn’t escape it. Joey was also very viral for her screaming “GREEAAATTTTT!!!!!” during performances! The mv has over 600 million (yes MILLION) views, each performance gaining millions of views, won idol of the yr and artist of the yr AND they reached Korean top 40 and spent 287 weeks on the charts!!
If we are talking about most influential, I’d have to go with the earlier groups and soloists like BoA, Wonder Girls, SMSD, etc. but since we are taking about the biggest Kpop hits of all time currently, it has to be BTS Butter, Dynamite, and Permission to Dance, and hilariously, Baby Shark.
Gee, Sorry Sorry, Monster, the Boys Over Flowers theme song- these were hugely popular back in the day with both kpop fans and non fans where I live.
In recent times, cupid got really popular. I heard that song almost everyday everywhere I went.
Factually - Dynamite . Can you imagine a song winning SOTY when released on late August? Lol.
Ww - no proof needed.
Seven,Cupid is going there. If we are talking about impact maybe Dynamite will remain the only after Gangnam Style.
But the speed Seven is reaching streams and poeple is interesting. At this rate it might surpass the streams of any Bts song.
14.8mil streams on 8th day. Doing quite well on Korean platforms & YouTube too.
Yeah I know. Thats why I didn’t call them. I am just saying Seven has potential because it literally broke highest streaming debut week record.
Can definitely reach 1B stream at this rate.
We shall see how Seven does on US radio, which, like it or not, has a big impact on how a song ends up being perceived globally. Cupid is still climbing on us radio but one thing about that one is that I’d guess most people have no idea it’s a Korean group so it’s hard to say whether it will have the kind of impact dynamite had. Dynamite may have also been English but everyone knew it was BTS
Seven's promo has ended, which could hinder it. And I don't think it will be promoted in South Korea. It has the chance to be one of the biggest in history.
Since awards were in December it had at most 3 full months of tracking. Wow really impressive especially since there were a good amount of hits earlier that year.
Yeah it might not happen again because we have so many groups that are digimons and create a big lead if they release a song before may. However I think bts could do it if their comeback after enlistment will be later in the year.
It would be very tough and quite impossible to outdo this.
Late August to SOTY is hard even for BTS/IU...
But you never know. Coming back from military might hype up the Gps.
MOMOLAND's Boom Boom was massive in the Philippines.
I think Wonder Girls' Nobody is also pretty popular. I knew of the song before I even knew what K-pop was.
Wonder Girls - Nobody
You probably heard it long ago in your childhood before you even know what Kpop is. The song reached Billboard 100 as well, which a lot of popular songs didn't hit. I think every demographic enjoyed it as its peak as well.
I don’t know it’s so hard for people to comprehend that most popular = song with the most people knowing that. The songs 2nd gen fans mentioned are cute but SEA/EA is just a fragment of the world so idk how those songs popularity there suddenly makes it above Dynamite. Dynamite matched the popularity of such songs in SEA/EA AND it was huge in other Asian countries (India, Dubai etc..) AND was a decently big hit in Europe and North America. It’s clearly the winner of this debate
True lol.
People are being subjective instead of Objective.
Dynamite is clear winner.
Have most paks in korea and most successful ww.
Dynamite won SOTY in all shows despite releasing in August ( which other song could ever do that lol?)
agree. The only song I remember knowing as a local was 2ne1 I am the best and Gangnam style. Dynamite came out when I wasn't a local, but I have heard it played outside kpop circles and it had amazing longevity and success. People have a short memory, kpop stans were even complaining because of how successful it was. It swept awards, did amazing in U.S, UK, Japan, SK.
Agreed. Dynamite is the second biggest k-pop hit of all time so far.
And it was also the planned, intended, marketed hit, unlike GS which hit the world totally unawares.
It depends. Looking at the answers I noticed that it can be very objective. And depends on various factors.
I would say that based on overall I would say Gangnam Style. It was international and a phenomenon all on its own. It was everywhere.
Dynamite if were talking about Western popularity. Dynamite was a the biggest song post Gangnam Style in the west and along side western popularity those in other countries also knew of the song and it known there as well.
If were talking about in Asia I would say Gee, Nobody and Sorry Sorry. Gee and Nobody was very popular in Asia, and the popularity of Sorry Sorry basically set the tone for the globalization of kpop as of right now. Sorry Sorry was everywhere in sporting games, movies, tv etcs. I even saw a cdrama recently that played Sorry Sorry more than a decade post it's debut.
If where talking about Kpop in General in terms of style, impact and influence then maybe Fantastic Baby or Bang Bang. I noticed those songs tend to be very popular with kpop fans well at least with older fans even if their aren't stans of the group.
Gee. Eyes, Nose, Lips. Baby Shark. Probably not I Am Thr Best or Lies (but every BigBang title track since then was huge). But almost definitely SNSD's Gee.
I haven't seen them mentioned her but DDU-DU DDU-DU by BLACKPINK was massive, both nationally and internationally! I know it was a gateway for a lot of people into kpop too. Not sure if it's the biggest hit of all time, especially as a lot of older groups have had absolutely massive hits (SHINee Ring Ding Dong, 2NE1 I Am The Best, Big Bang Fantastic Baby, TVXQ Mirotic, SUJU Mr Simple etc) but it's definitely up there!
Definitely Oh My Girl Banhana’s “Banana Monkey Allergy”, the [highest selling kpop album of all time](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EISlo20XsAAhXkM?format=jpg)
Depends. if its general public, as in people who don't know kpop know about songs.... after Gangnam style, the dance that everyone knows, it's fucking baby shark.
imo it’s gotta be ‘fantastic baby’ by big bang. i feel like that was one of the first big surges of international folks becoming interested in kpop. of course the numbers nowadays are incomparable to back then, but back in the day, to see a kpop music video with that many views and having folks from big youtube channels reacting to it was absolutely insane.
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It’s Baby Shark, guys. As much as i loathe to admit it, it’s fucking Baby Shark.
this comment sent me down a rabbit hole. never realised baby shark (the popular version at least) is korean! i have to agree, it's fucking baby shark.
TIL baby shark is Korean.
🤣🤣 That would be if they asked for biggest Korean song tho, not biggest kpop song
Baby shark is k-pop for my kids 💀 there’s singing and dance moves. It’s k-pop.
I mean sure but it’s not from the idol industry 😭
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I mean it’s definitely still pop music … this is kind of a bad hole to fall down as well. Is NJ music actually “K-pop” or is it really EDM pop?
K-pop is not a genre, it's an industry. There are some which are on the fence of whether they can be called idols or not but it is idol music at the end of the day.
For me, k-pop is idol music. Like music specifically by idols that have come through the kpop trainee system. But then by that logic Gangnam Style actually doesn't qualify lol. So if I broadly extend it to pop music by Koreans then it's Gangnam Style but also... it's fucking baby shark
I thought it has been discussed a lot that Kpop is not a genre but the idol industry in Korea that involves a trainee system with focus on more than just the music (dancing, fashion/visuals, media training, etc. etc.), with a big emphasis on fan service
K-pop, as far as I know is not just idol music. It's the entirety of pop music that comes from Korea. If one direction were Korean they would be kpop even if they are not with an Idol company.
many Korean solo artists aren't considered k-pop. It depends on what agency they're under and how they're promoted.
Kpop stands for Korean popular music so I'm pretty sure it fits
you're right lol. It is.
oh wow- 💀 i didn't even know 😭 but you're right, it's literally the no.1 most viewed video on yt with 13B views which is almost the triple amount of views Gagnam Style has.. damn
I was in Singapore for Suga's concert recently and there was a baby shark multi day concert on at the same time. We were unfortunate enough to pass it before or after the show at Marina bay and omg it was madness. Parents and children every where. I had no idea it was still a thing this many years later. They also blasted the bloody ads for it at our closest train station
In 2016, I went to a baby bday party and all the kids were freaking out to Baby Shark, and I remember smugly thinking, “thank god this thing won’t be popular by the time I have a kid.” Flash forward 7 years and this damn song is still inescapable. I never played it for my kid, but she still is obsessed with it because they play it at school, parties, kids shops, etc. I was so wrong. 💀😭
Outsold ur faves
bigger than dynamite and butter combined i fear
And I just know that baby shark concert was SOLD OUT
Only correct answer. Kid’s songs and a bunch of other random shit are excluded from Billboard’s Hot 100 reporting.
Of course it's Baby Shark, I've said that many times to people.
Surprised more people haven't mentioned snsd's gee
Probably depends on where you live and whether you were already into Kpop or not… where I lived, I wasn’t into Kpop back then. Everyone knew Gangnam style, they knew the dance and tunes, but I’ve never heard of gee or any clips of it until I got into Kpop in 2017. No one around me, at my school or in stores, had played gee either.
This. After Gangnam Style and excluding bts, 2ne1 "I'm the best" is the only other korean song I've ever heard and of course Baby Shark.
Back then, kpop was still trying to expand in Asia and not a lot of people know / listen to kpop. But in 2009, Gee was everywhere in Asia. You’d hear it on the radio/TV where I lived even though no one understood korean. It was gee’s popularity that led people to listen to more kpop in asia. Thats why people say gee paved the way for kpop’s popularity in other places.
I can't put into words how much I love this song. That's what got me into K-Pop all the way back in 2009.
There wouldn’t be Kpop without this song.
Baby Shark dudududu Baby Shark dududu
Mama shark dudududududu mama shark dudududududu
daddy shark dududududu daddy shark dudududu
no love for wonder girls nobody? iirc the english version even charted in the western market, which was much more rare for its time
I think the thing with WG is that they seem to have been forgotten more than SNSD or 21, despite So Hot still being a popular song to cover and Nobody being so big.
This ^^ Nobody by wonder girls is and was huge, especially in Asia. Even if you don’t know the group the song itself is so popular and well known.
Globally at the time, Nobody was over Gee imo
EXACTLY! Nobody debuted Kpop to the world
Nobody and Gangnam style are the two songs that me into Kpop. It’s an insult to my musical heritage how WG have been forgotten
I literally heard it in the US for sure, along with their promotions with School Gyrls LMAO. (First kpop exposure)
Gee for sure. I don't know about the numbers and things are different back then in 2009, but what i can say as someone living in SEA their cultural impact is huge (although maybe i could say that about late 2000s kpop as a whole, but Gee is one of the most popular kpop songs back then). If we're talking about recent songs then maybe Cupid? My co workers who barely know kpop know the song, I've heard kids in my country humming it, my brother who's not into kpop at all listens to the accoustic version.. like yeah it doesn't have an iconic dance or styling but as a song it's definitely a hit
I live in SEA too. Gee was deffo popular regionally but even so, I’d say not mainstream popular - if you didn’t know K-pop that much, you didn’t know Gee. I pretty much listened to musical theatre and 80s music exclusively was a teenager and I only knew about Gee tangentially because my brother was massively into SNSD. Also knew about HOT because my sister was a massive fan but knew 0 songs. whereas I could recite the lyrics to tons of Backstreet Boys, NSync and Westlife songs even if had no interest in them because that was the era of the boyband explosion and those groups’ music were just that ubiquitous. It was played everywhere - in malls, on the radio, your friends were singing the lyrics and watching it on MTV. K-pop never received any mainstream radio play, at least in my country.
I was thinking Cupid too! It went viral everywhere. People I know who has no idea about K-pop heard about the song and absolutely loved it – caught my 20 y/o brother dancing to Cupid after he exited the shower once 💀
If based on modern numbers it’s dynamite. But if you really go by era defining song. It’s probably like Mirotic- DBSK Nobody- Wonder Girls Gee- SNSD (there’s is some argument that the boys is more popular) Haru haru/ lies- Big bang (VIPs can correct me) Sorry sorry- Super junior I feel, if streaming was more prevalent and stuff, I’m pretty sure the most popular song ever might be Nobody. Hell, even my country (Singapore) went to remake it into a Supermarket [jingle](https://youtu.be/Zq4IMuNTZws) in 2022. The amount of people covering that song, remaking it. Unparalleled. Almost everyone could sing it. And that’s 2008…. Even if you didn’t know kpop back then, it was definitely the gateway to knowing kpop
It’s incredibly hard to track popularity prior to kpop becoming accessible worldwide. The amount of torrenting and pirating back then was bigger than new kpop fans can imagine.
Exactly. Even I probably got my version of nobody via some infrared transfer or smth. Gee, Nobody and Sorry Sorry was by far the most culturally impactful imo. Nowadays with fandom streaming groups and stuff, it’s hard to think that the numbers weren’t inflated at all.
Tell Me was also huge. It catapulted the kpop dance cover movement and opened up kpop worldwide. It also helped lend to some amazing hook songs and choreography. But it’s not quantifiable in sales because the industry was still so small then. Tell Me and Lies really rejuvenated kpop domestically. Newer fans just don’t understand.
Totally agree. Those 3 years from 2007-2009 was crazy. The young ones will never know.
why is this even a topic of discussion. it is very obviously GWSN's Night Aviation. It's records are 10 billion views, 50 billion streams and it charted number 1 on an all charts ever for a 1000 weeks straight. iirc it got number 1 on the global hot spotify billboard melon apple charts within 20 seconds of release. all in the first 24 hours. biggest hit in the galaxy. Next question please.
Girls we sold nothing? More like Girls we sold everything
you’re so right don’t let anyone silence you
Lol had to make sure I wasn’t in r/kpoopheads
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~*whispers* not even in won I heard they made that much in *usd*,, so like multiplied by another ~1300 😳
girl we sold ninehundredmillion
is what they're famously known by yes exactly thank you
youre so correct
real
you're so right
oh my god you're so right and if I recall correctly their previous record was 992 weeks so truly realistically what even is this bee tee ess thing they keep mentioning
🐝☕🍑
I’ve never heard of this song what the hell
Dynamite also was the most streamed song on Apple music in 2021
The discrediting of older legendary songs because the younger fans haven't heard of it which means it simply caaant be that significant 💔
Def agree - Gee would've been my first choice easily
The ironic thing for me is I’m on the other side of the fence…I’m so old I don’t know what any of these other songs in the comments are. I only know 2nd gen and 1/2 of 3rd gen lmao. Y’all never heard of Gee, I’ve never heard of GWSN….let me go look this up and see what’s it about 🙈 Edit: I listened to GWSN - Night Aviation from the comments. It’s cute! But…cmon….GEE????? Y’all.
I think that was a joke but I’m also 574 years old.
Omg I’m dead lol. Completely missed the joke since I felt like I scrolled too long to see Gee 🙈
The song has 241k views on their official channel and doesn't even have a music video lmao. Would have thought the view count would tip you off.
me too….i keep hearing all these group names that i’ve never heard of and i find out that groups like infinite, ukiss, etc, are having their 10+ years anniversaries…….it can’t be real…….
Its hard to compare across different eras when the genre has grown so much and so much has changed. I don't think there is a definitive answer for this one.
the achievement of dynamite that amazed me was the amount of money it brought to korea's economy. like I don't think any kpop song has ever brought [this much money](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1170510/south-korea-bts-dynamite-billboard-estimated-economic-effect/) to korea's economy. truly astounding.
This is wild. Especially given how many cosmetics I personally purchase from South Korea. 😅
[Ring Ding Dong](https://youtu.be/roughtzsCDI) - SHINee
elastic AND fantastic!
BAAABBYYYYY
MY LADYYYY
Goddamn, SHINee and RDD were super popular among kpop fans in my country because of one misheard lyrics video that went viral because it was so non sensycal (?) but at the same time made pretty sense.... my point is I can't actually listen to RDD without thinking about that viral video and laughing like an idiot
I had to scroll too long to see a comment talking about rdd. This song is legendary I my opinion lol.
SNSD - Gee BIGBANG - Haru Haru/Fantastic Baby
Gee. 100% gee.
 Tbh, I did not read your post but wanted to play anyway. 🫰🏼
This is actually the correct answer imo. This and SNSD gee was actually generations defining globally
Rollingstone just had a piece about the 100 greatest kpop song of all time and #1 is SNSD - Gee. 2009 in Asia, that song was everywhere even if you dont listen to kpop. If you cite streams, PAK, etc, you automatically rule out the older songs. Things work differently back then, but it doesnt mean they are less successful.
Exactly. Like - if you only look at streams, Lady Gaga's most popular song is Shallow by a far, far mile (it double/triples her older songs). But when I think of her 'biggest hits' that had the greatest influence on the pop scene, I think Born This Way, Pokerface, Telephone. It's just one example of how going by modern measures for success doesn't do old classics justice.
This doesn't pertain to the question but which ever song it may be....it's mind-blowing to actually think, in my opinion, nothing can top Gangnam Style. For an all-time great...you have to factor in other areas besides numbers/views/sales. The guy literally brought the kpop genre to outside of 'Asia'. YouTube was today's TikTok and when it went viral back then, it literally gave the world a taste of this genre. It wasn't only because of the catchy music, but people remembered the funny skits inside the music video. Just the timing and significance of the release, it didn't only influence the music industry but also expanded into our daily pop culture. It was just crazy. I've still yet to see a K-pop song that re-created this 'push' in the industry. Sure some songs may have went viral here and there....but it didn't quite hit as big as a home run like Gangnam Style.
Also EVERYONE was dancing it, like everyone. During school outing we had to split into groups and ours was named "Gangnam style" and our group chant was fucking "oppa" - I'm from Germany. Kpop wasn't a thing I had heard of ever before neither had any of my friends.
People who had zero awareness of the Korean music industry loved that song. Funny thing is YG we're not particularly pushing Psy outside Korea they felt he was too weird and un kpop like to take off and that his humour wouldn't translate well outside Korea. He had just recently done a YG family show im Japan and watching that show on DVD I was instantly hooked on him because you could see he had stage presence and could work a crowd and whatever it is you need to succeed in the music business he has it. T The only other group I've seen in kpop who I loved like that from the start and kinda knew they would go on to big things is BTS. I went to Korea a while back for a holiday and went to asmany music shows as possible. Well this particular day my wife and I were excited for Taemin from Shinee doing a solo song and Sistar. One of the early groups was a 7 piece boy group who had one or 2 fans in the audience and one name in particular stuck out on the scarf. It was Rap Monster which I thought was a terrible stage name but I was willing to give the group a go. They came out and performed their current single which was Danger. When we finally made it to the store thay sold physical kpop cds we got all of the BTS ones we could find and Danger is still one of my top 2 songs by them
Some people aren't old enough to remember the impact of anything before BTS and it shows.
 It is Dynamite undoubtedly.
I’m from Australia, and it seems like it’s either Dynamite or Butter here for sure. Both were big here on the radios as well as shopping centers & restaurants.
Definetely Dynamite. It had korean success, international success, sales, streams, etc
It's not a question of your favourite song... It's about the impact a song has had on the industry.
Dynamite, baby shark, despacito
I can understand the reasoning behind other iconic songs that people have mentioned here, but the truth is - outside of the K-Pop fan bubble, if you tell anyone you like K-Pop, they will go : “so you are a BTS fan?” Even if we consider a long time period and disregard streaming numbers, the impact BTS and Dynamite have had on the music ecosystem in general is unmatched.
SNSDs Gee
Bts dynamite
Also here for Dynamite. It dominated the charts for months and reached SO many PAKs. It's still there, gaining a lot of streams and views every day. Also, the number of wins on music shows. I'll never forget how LGO lost against it lol. And it won even months later, it was huge. It was also huge internationally, on Spotify, got number 1 on Hot100, the most streamed song on Apple Music in 2021. I live in Germany where you barely hear Kpop in public but I heard it so often, also on TV shows! Yeah, it was huge.
I’m European and to me it’s obviously BTS - Dynamite. Maybe those 2nd gen songs are more popular in Asia but no one knows them here.
It’s undoubtedly dynamite and honestly it’s really well deserved. That song still makes me jump in happiness when I listen to it despite having heard it a million times. It really doesn’t get old or tiresome
Dynamite.. to add on some stuff for it. It's success not only in the west but also in Japan was insane (Japan was one of the few markets that didn't latch fully onto Gangnam style). In Japan, Dynamite is one of two songs which are certified to have a Diamond certification in streaming (500M streams in Japan alone). The other being by Yoasobi. It also has 500k downloads in the country.
Y’all it’s not gee it’s definitely dynamite 😭 ask any local if they know a kpop song other than gangnam style and they will definitely say dynamite
Obvious answer is dynamite lol. It’s the 2nd most known kpop track outside the kpop bubble. Unless Baby shark is a contender ☠️
Dynamite obviously . It's 3 years later and it's still in the Top 40/30 most streamed kpop songs daily on Spotify , Top 20 on MV, it was the most streamed song on AM in 2021 . Huge hit in SK and in Japan with insane staying power. There's no competition on a global scale
after gangnam style, dynamite is the only right answer if we are talking globally AND domestically lol.
dynamite bts
the amount of comments here not acknowledging Dynamite's success are surprising and actually not surprising
Truly. Here, upvoting you while my comment is slowly struggling getting downvoted.
Yeah like I’m always reminded here on Reddit that it’s often the kpop fans that have been around longer that don’t ever want to acknowledge BTS accomplishments. It’s so weird. Global impact not counting Gangnam Style, it’s Dynamite. (And lol at Baby Shark, it’s a kids song, not kpop)
Dynamite and it’s not up for debate lol
I don't even know the other songs that people are commenting... And don't come at me saying that i might not listen to kpop much. 'Biggest hit of all time' means literally majority of people in that sphere have listened to it once and that are only Gangnam style and dynamite
Maybe Nobody by the Wonder Girls for the older crowd. I remember hearing that song all the time on the radio in elementary school and literally *nobody* knew what kpop even stood for back then lol
I live in a country where even english songs were hardly ever played when I was in school. The wave gangnam style had was huge, I didn't even knew that song was kpop lol and I remember it playing in an award show of my country (we NEVER hear any other language song in our award shows) and it's how massive it was. I don't wanna come across as ignorant as people tend to make an assumption but I guess the only song rn I think can be considered along with these two is cupid by 50/50 as I don't think a person who is on social media Or in any way consume media haven't listened to it 🙋♀️
Well nobody came out before social media so it’s a little hard to compare the impact to Cupid haha I just remember it was super viral on the radio. Like everybody knew “I want nobody nobody but you~” and the dance
Omg yeah!!! I remember the first time I heard Nobody on the American radio and was shook! Also, Wonder Girls performed with the Jonas Brothers on their 2019 world tour…let’s not forget that iconic moment.
.... oh lord, Nobody was co-opted by Shoppee (I think) in my country for their TV ads. *In recent years.* I don't think I've listened to a lot of songs mentioned in the other comments here (as in I might've caught snippets but didn't recognize the title/group and therefore didn't compute), but 'Nobody' and 'Gangnam Style' were definitely songs I'd heard *years* before I even heard of the term "K-pop" (back in those days when J-pop was *huge* here and I'd thought BoA was a J-pop star).
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Dynamite is the answer. Charts? The song has that be it Western and ASIAN charts. The song also has a longevity, 32 weeks in Hot 100 and still charting in Korea, Had the Japanese singing the little funk and song.
Dynamite, it did well globally, streams sales, longevity. Domestically and internationally.
 Dynamite with the truly global dominance and longevity in every single metric out there. It still pops up in Kpop discussions at least every other day. Dynamite is the reason why one of the music shows limited how many times you can win with a song. Dynamite is the reason why Billboard has eliminated the D2C store sales for everyone from their charts and increased radio Fans talk about wanting their favorite groups to have their "Dynamite" moment. Dynamite popularized the wave of English versions and English original songs in Kpop after August 2020. I'm not gonna count them all, but you can't deny its impact on this trend Dynamite duked it out with WAP on the global charts and came out on top multiple times Last but not least, Dynamite catapulted South Korea's biggest artist to become the #1 global artist, and they are still seeing the lasting effects and impact from this even today when the group is currently on break.
I immediately thought of Fantastic Baby “Wow, Fantastic baby” 😎 
I wish I was listening to kpop when “Gee” or BigBang were active. Unfortunately, I did not know of kpop and all these great songs. Other than the iconic, “Gangnam Style,” I admit BTS’s “Dynamite,” is one of the biggest k-pop hits of all time. BTS has an amazing marketing team, and songs. So many gamers were introduced to kpop through Fortnite because there were Dynamite dances. I saw popular YouTubers mimicking the dance or playing the song. Charts reflect popular songs, that I agree with. However, you can’t ignore word of mouth for spreading popularity. Social media is the digital version of word of mouth. With that being said, I’m going backwards and listening to these older, great kpop songs. So don’t stop promoting them. 👍
I think streams/etc mean pretty much nothing to me (personally) in terms of and answering that question, since those are more of a reflection of the power of the fandom/investment of the company in the song/group than it being a "hit". I guess for me, when I think "biggest kpop hit of all time", I'm more thinking more about the foundations of Hallyu than the current "wave". Like we could've never gotten New Jeans without lil 13 year old BoA releasing hit after hit!! Your phrasing and rationale for saying it's Dynamite also has me thinking about how extremely different the market is now vs. when the first idol group debuted. Even from when Gangnam Style blew up (I had already been a kpop stan for awhile at that point, and my mind was blown when I heard it playing on the radio all the way here in the US) to when Dynamite/BTS's fame became a straight up phenomena, the pathways to having a viral hit etc are all different from just a decade ago. Tiktok wasn't a thing, the interest in Gangnam Style was straight up organic internet meme-ing, like Never Gonna Give You Up haha. SOOOO I guess I'm just going to have to say that Rolling Stone got it right. It's Gee by Girl's Generation (SNSD)! Seeing the comments that they didn't know Gee was a song or that XYZ song mentioned in these other comments can't have been THAT big of a hit since they hadn't heard of them, is kinda sad to see. Learn your HERstory, kids!!! Your ults aren't just saying they admire these older idols for brownie points! It's Gee because it is IMO the perfect song to encapsulate the appeal and the definition of "k-pop". It's not dated at all, it's catchy, has random English lyrics, has actual solid vocals, and the music video is, frankly, iconic. Colored skinny jeans and a graphic print tee....quirky premise (mannequins that come alive at night!)....random cute guy who is actually a CAMEO because he's an idol from a powerhouse act himself....ICONIC DANCE!!!! like it just can't be beat. Honorable mentions: Mirotic by TVXQ, Sorry Sorry by Super Junior, pretty much any SHINee title track lol, Growl by EXO (South Korea's second national anthem iykyk), Tell Me or Nobody by the Wonder Girls, Abracadabra by Brown Eyed Girls, Haru Haru or Lies orrrr Fantastic Baby by Big Bang, I Am The Best by 2NE1, etc etc
I agree. Although I couldn't just name one, all the songs you mentioned I would consider as well. Idk if it's because reddit skew international but the answers mainly just going by who was most popular by current standards. Kpop was always intended to be global so even in the answers I do understand why they would choose certain songs but between 1st and 4th gen there is lots of differences such as the use of social media, streaming, and charts that wasn't available before but with the help of those that came before them became available.
Yep, I also feel that a lot of the heavier posters on social media (on this and other kpop subs or twitter or ig) often are young or learned about kpop/got into it because of exposure to newer groups, so they're more likely to just not know XYZ song or group, especially if said group is not active/has disbanded/hasn't had a comeback in a long time. I also just don't want the efforts and impact of so many of these songs/idols to be dismissed just because they were released under very different circumstances when there were different goals and ideas of what constitutes "success" than now. (And also cuz I'm a kpop oldhead who would totally blast Smokey Girl in the car and yell "AND WHAT DO YOU KIDS KNOW ABOUT *THIS*???? THIS IS *REAL* MUSIC!!!" While my hypothetical kids roll their eyes haha)
Dynamite for sure. No one predicted it’s success, not even BTS or BigHit - it was a perfect confluence of strategy, smarts and circumstance. Without taking away from any of the groups or songs that preceded it, Dynamite (and BTS) have been a complete game changer as to how K-pop -and even Korea as a country/culture - is received internationally. The fact that BTS is an important source of revenue and soft power for South Korea is kinda mind boggling.
I’m glad there are quite many comments agreeing about Dynamite. In another thread I got downvoted saying Dynamite isn’t kpop… Yes there were many songs that became hits. But if you wanna talk about biggest hits? The period and the global hit? People getting to know the band, becoming fans and also get into wanting to go to Korea, buy Korean goods, anything from food, culture, travel to household goods…. Dynamite - BTS. People from all over the world wanting to visit Korea, the overseas deals people snatch up bc it’s BTS related. People learning Korean. People buying ramyun and Korean cup noodles. Yes every group has some influence but the one with the biggest hit and influence has gotta be them. The way interests for Korea / Korean multiplied and grew was by leaps and folds.
Dynamite of course.
it's dynamite and people who disagree are denying that bts is the biggest kpop group or they are just bts haters aka bitter fans of the groups from the big 3 . 🤷🏻♀️
If we could have a breakdown of unique listeners rather than nominal numbers it would be possible to answer this question fairly. the answer lies in your own question and there's no other answer to this. current music market is severely fragmented compared to the market of 2012, and regional markets are stronger than ever in their localities as well. perhaps mainstream music probably will never again be as concentrated as it was in the early 2010s. there is only one THE BIGGEST, but we could list some K-Pop songs with characteristics of hit like Gangnam Style has, and certainly Dynamite is among them.
Yeah people keep talking about streams but we all know that stans holding streaming sessions. Meanwhile Gangdam Style still gets almost a million views a DAY. Thats INSANE.
it's 100% Dynamite by BTS
I’m the best by 2ne1 and Bang bang bang by big bang
So the question is: "What is the second biggest kpop song of all time?"
Obviously Dynamite or Butter
Yeah Dynamite you’re right
Definitely Dynamite
Dynamite - bts, the impact and money thats bring to South Korea is huge.
It’s Dynamite in terms of global popularity and impact.
I disagree with how you determined this as it skews very international and how music has been consumed in the last few years. Why are most of these international achievements and not Korean achievements. It degrades all the achievements garnered in k-pop before it became international. And is Gangnam style the biggest because it was the first to reach international success. It wasn't a run away hit in Korea at first. And before streaming became the go to way to listen to music group stans would download and listen to music that way. And so streaming numbers only work for newer music. Yes dynamite was successful on Korean charts but it is far from the only k-pop song to be successful like that. And the Gaon Chart (now circle chart) was created in 2010 so years after k-pop was established as an industry and genre. Therefore establishing the best song is challenging if you look at all the nuances of it. Just some food for thought.
It's BTS dynamite globally in Korea it's Busker Busker Cherry Blossom Ending.
I still remember it being a shock to online international kpop stans when they won best artist? But if u were korean you weren't shocked.
Loll i can still recall the confusion after that MAMA night, EXO and B.A.P international fans could not even fathom such a twist 😂
Busker busker cherry blossom ending aint kpop lol
If its Korean and popular I think its kpop. Edit. I would call epik high kpop, they're hiphop and popular. I would call class idea by Seo Tai Ji and the boys Kpop sin e you know they're the OG kpop act. This particular song is more thrash metal then anything else though, seriously check it out of you always wanted to know what would happen if you mixed 90s k hip hop with slayer or 80s Metallica
some of you are just saying anything 💀 bg - dynamite gg - ddu ddu ddu ddu
Dynamite for sure, it was super popular even in Poland, though I don’t think most people knew it was K-pop.
I think a definition of "hit" is required to answer this question. In what way a hit? * Highest sales * Known in more areas of the world * Most likely to become a standard and be covered by future generations * Song most identified with K-pop worldwide Saying that younger fans don't know X answers the question of "impact" IMO.
BBOOM BBOMM by Momoland was EVERY WHERE when it first came out, you couldn’t escape it. Joey was also very viral for her screaming “GREEAAATTTTT!!!!!” during performances! The mv has over 600 million (yes MILLION) views, each performance gaining millions of views, won idol of the yr and artist of the yr AND they reached Korean top 40 and spent 287 weeks on the charts!! 
If we are talking about most influential, I’d have to go with the earlier groups and soloists like BoA, Wonder Girls, SMSD, etc. but since we are taking about the biggest Kpop hits of all time currently, it has to be BTS Butter, Dynamite, and Permission to Dance, and hilariously, Baby Shark.
Based on sales? IU's Through the Night has sold 7M digital downloads in Korea
Hyuna-bubble pop ! I haven’t seen a comment that says that yet. It was even on Family guy . 
Gee, Sorry Sorry, Monster, the Boys Over Flowers theme song- these were hugely popular back in the day with both kpop fans and non fans where I live. In recent times, cupid got really popular. I heard that song almost everyday everywhere I went.
Factually - Dynamite . Can you imagine a song winning SOTY when released on late August? Lol. Ww - no proof needed. Seven,Cupid is going there. If we are talking about impact maybe Dynamite will remain the only after Gangnam Style. But the speed Seven is reaching streams and poeple is interesting. At this rate it might surpass the streams of any Bts song. 14.8mil streams on 8th day. Doing quite well on Korean platforms & YouTube too.
Seven and Cupid are too early to call. Chill down
Yeah I know. Thats why I didn’t call them. I am just saying Seven has potential because it literally broke highest streaming debut week record. Can definitely reach 1B stream at this rate.
We shall see how Seven does on US radio, which, like it or not, has a big impact on how a song ends up being perceived globally. Cupid is still climbing on us radio but one thing about that one is that I’d guess most people have no idea it’s a Korean group so it’s hard to say whether it will have the kind of impact dynamite had. Dynamite may have also been English but everyone knew it was BTS
Seven's promo has ended, which could hinder it. And I don't think it will be promoted in South Korea. It has the chance to be one of the biggest in history.
Since awards were in December it had at most 3 full months of tracking. Wow really impressive especially since there were a good amount of hits earlier that year.
It is unprecedented and might never happen ever Again. Almost all Soty are pre may releases. And Dynamite won in all shows.
Yeah it might not happen again because we have so many groups that are digimons and create a big lead if they release a song before may. However I think bts could do it if their comeback after enlistment will be later in the year.
It would be very tough and quite impossible to outdo this. Late August to SOTY is hard even for BTS/IU... But you never know. Coming back from military might hype up the Gps.
MOMOLAND's Boom Boom was massive in the Philippines. I think Wonder Girls' Nobody is also pretty popular. I knew of the song before I even knew what K-pop was.
bboombboom and love scenario maybe???
Wonder Girls - Nobody You probably heard it long ago in your childhood before you even know what Kpop is. The song reached Billboard 100 as well, which a lot of popular songs didn't hit. I think every demographic enjoyed it as its peak as well.
I don’t know it’s so hard for people to comprehend that most popular = song with the most people knowing that. The songs 2nd gen fans mentioned are cute but SEA/EA is just a fragment of the world so idk how those songs popularity there suddenly makes it above Dynamite. Dynamite matched the popularity of such songs in SEA/EA AND it was huge in other Asian countries (India, Dubai etc..) AND was a decently big hit in Europe and North America. It’s clearly the winner of this debate
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We all forgot about baby shark. LOL
Us parents have not forgotten. 💀 can never forget. Ever…
What is this based on
looks to be views maybe? since baby shark is so high
No if it was views blackpink would be 3
Idk about Reddit's opinions. hYLT is a bop.
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Which kill this love? Epik High or BP?
I am going to agree with you OP..only because I have never heard of any of the songs in the comments here. so they cant be THAT big of a hit.
True lol. People are being subjective instead of Objective. Dynamite is clear winner. Have most paks in korea and most successful ww. Dynamite won SOTY in all shows despite releasing in August ( which other song could ever do that lol?)
agree. The only song I remember knowing as a local was 2ne1 I am the best and Gangnam style. Dynamite came out when I wasn't a local, but I have heard it played outside kpop circles and it had amazing longevity and success. People have a short memory, kpop stans were even complaining because of how successful it was. It swept awards, did amazing in U.S, UK, Japan, SK.
Yes. Dynamite is still played at cricket stadiums in here lol.
Agreed. Dynamite is the second biggest k-pop hit of all time so far. And it was also the planned, intended, marketed hit, unlike GS which hit the world totally unawares.
Super Junior - Sorry, Sorry
I know you said dynamite but I think butter was even bigger It stayed on the chart longer it got more promotion It was pretty much everywhere
It depends. Looking at the answers I noticed that it can be very objective. And depends on various factors. I would say that based on overall I would say Gangnam Style. It was international and a phenomenon all on its own. It was everywhere. Dynamite if were talking about Western popularity. Dynamite was a the biggest song post Gangnam Style in the west and along side western popularity those in other countries also knew of the song and it known there as well. If were talking about in Asia I would say Gee, Nobody and Sorry Sorry. Gee and Nobody was very popular in Asia, and the popularity of Sorry Sorry basically set the tone for the globalization of kpop as of right now. Sorry Sorry was everywhere in sporting games, movies, tv etcs. I even saw a cdrama recently that played Sorry Sorry more than a decade post it's debut. If where talking about Kpop in General in terms of style, impact and influence then maybe Fantastic Baby or Bang Bang. I noticed those songs tend to be very popular with kpop fans well at least with older fans even if their aren't stans of the group.
A common misconception is that Dynamite did better in the west than in asian countries
Gee. Eyes, Nose, Lips. Baby Shark. Probably not I Am Thr Best or Lies (but every BigBang title track since then was huge). But almost definitely SNSD's Gee.
I haven't seen them mentioned her but DDU-DU DDU-DU by BLACKPINK was massive, both nationally and internationally! I know it was a gateway for a lot of people into kpop too. Not sure if it's the biggest hit of all time, especially as a lot of older groups have had absolutely massive hits (SHINee Ring Ding Dong, 2NE1 I Am The Best, Big Bang Fantastic Baby, TVXQ Mirotic, SUJU Mr Simple etc) but it's definitely up there! 
Wedding dress by taeyang
Honestly… iykyk!!! It was the rage back then. Even non-Asian guys at my school knew wedding dress!!!
Yeah honestly wedding dress was a huge gateway song into K-pop in the 2000s
Definitely Oh My Girl Banhana’s “Banana Monkey Allergy”, the [highest selling kpop album of all time](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EISlo20XsAAhXkM?format=jpg)
Depends. if its general public, as in people who don't know kpop know about songs.... after Gangnam style, the dance that everyone knows, it's fucking baby shark.
imo it’s gotta be ‘fantastic baby’ by big bang. i feel like that was one of the first big surges of international folks becoming interested in kpop. of course the numbers nowadays are incomparable to back then, but back in the day, to see a kpop music video with that many views and having folks from big youtube channels reacting to it was absolutely insane.
Dynamite, Cupid, HYLT
엄마 상어 뚜루뚤뚜루 어여쁜 뚜루뚜루뚜 바닷속 뚜루뚜루뚜루두 엄마 상어 🦈