ILLIT's "NOT CUTE ANYMORE" has accelerated its global success, causing YouTube Music's monthly viewers to surge.
According to YouTube Music, on Jan. 15 ILLIT (Yuna, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, Iroha) surpassed a total of 583 million monthly viewers. Not only was this an unmatched figure among K-pop groups during the same period, it put them on par with pop stars who have dominated the U.S. Billboard main charts, such as Shakira (617 million) and Tyla (637 million). YouTube Music's monthly viewers refers to the number of global users who watched ILLIT's content or listened to their music in the past 28 days.
The trend in monthly viewers before and after the release of "NOT CUTE ANYMORE" shows the song's worldwide impact. ILLIT's net monthly viewers, about 80 million in Nov. of last year, surged about 438% to exceed 430 million in Dec., when activities for "NOT CUTE ANYMORE" were in full swing. Even after official activities ended, global interest continued, and they have been setting a record high day after day.
Short-form popularity proved effective. The song's usage surged after "NOT CUTE ANYMORE" was inserted into the "hood jab shot" challenge video, which spread worldwide as a meme. The song actually ranked No. 2 (Dec. 22) on the U.S. YouTube "daily shorts hot songs" and No. 5 (Dec. 27) on the global YouTube list, and it climbed into the upper ranks of charts across European territories such as the U.K., Germany and France.
On the back of these achievements, ILLIT recently returned to domestic music shows, and thereafter "NOT CUTE ANYMORE" rose to No. 14 on Melon's "Top 100" (Jan. 11). It also climbed the U.S. Billboard "Bubbling Under Hot 100" for three consecutive weeks to reach No. 7 (Jan. 17), bringing entry into the main song chart, the "Hot 100," within sight.
Meanwhile, ILLIT's second Japanese digital single, "Sunday Morning," hit No. 1 on AWA Music's real-time rising chart immediately after its release on Jan. 13. The music video, which tells the story of a mysterious magical restaurant, entered Japan's YouTube "daily popular music videos" at No. 7 (Jan. 13), achieving the highest ranking among overseas artists on that chart and demonstrating solid local popularity.
[Photo] Belift Lab Inc.
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