The group ILLIT's "Almond Chocolate" has successfully re-ascended the major charts in Japan once again. It shows the characteristic of a song that gains popularity through word of mouth as time goes by.
According to the agency Belift Lab, ILLIT's "Almond Chocolate" ranked 6th in the latest Apple Music Japan "Weekly Song Ranking" announced on the 9th (counting period March 31 to April 6), breaking the record for the highest ranking of a K-pop group's original song in Japan. It rose 2 places from the previous week. Released on February 14, "Almond Chocolate" first entered the chart at 56th (March 10-16), climbed to 23rd (March 17-23), and 8th (March 24-30), consistently rising.
In the Oricon "Weekly Streaming Ranking" announced on the same day (March 31 to April 6), it reached 10th place. This is the best performance among K-pop girl group songs released this year so far. The previous rankings of this song in the Oricon "Weekly Streaming Ranking" were 27th (March 17-23) and 12th (March 24-30).
In the Billboard Japan "Weekly Streaming Song" and "Hot 100," it was ranked 60th (as of March 19) and reached 10th and 13th place in the latest chart (as of April 9), respectively. Additionally, it ranked 21st (as of April 4) in the YouTube Music Japan "Weekly Popular Songs" chart. Considering that the song does not have a music video containing a performance, this is an unusual level of popularity. "Almond Chocolate" is the theme song of the Japanese movie "I Don't Like You Just by Your Face," and only a special film has been released.
ILLIT's lovely image and the lyrical quality of "Almond Chocolate" are cited as factors contributing to its popularity. The lyrics, which compare feelings for a loved one to sweet and bittersweet almond chocolate, blend with a poignant melody, and ILLIT expresses this delicately, enhancing the appeal of the song. In fact, "Almond Chocolate" entered the U.S. Billboard "LyricFind Global" chart at 9th place (as of April 12) for songs with the most searched lyrics.
The short-form challenge also contributed to the popularity of the song. ILLIT's "Almond Chocolate (Sped Up)" version has been in the top 10 of the TikTok Japan weekly music chart for three consecutive weeks, showing the highest ranking among overseas artists. As of April 9, this song has been used in approximately 47,000 videos on TikTok. It can be said that it is the song of ILLIT, the 'short-form champions'.
[Photo] Provided by Belift Lab.
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