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Who Holds the Prestigious Title of Nation’s Kpop Girl Group Among the Big 3 Kpop Girl Groups

kdramaJuly 2, 2021

7 minutes read

With all the Kpop girl groups out there who really is the Nation's Kpop girl group?

Red Velvet - The group from SM entertainment where Girls Generation the first nation's Kpop girl group was from.

Twice- Goku powerhouse of Korea and Japan.

Blackpink - Who put up monster numbers and have tons of fans across the world.

Which Kpop girl group can represent the whole country of South Korea?

The answer to the question is depends on the group's past, sales, and impact on South Korean music and culture.

Let’s take a look at the Kpop girl group ‘Girls Generation‘. Girls Generation is the first to receive the title of ‘Nation’s Kpop girl group.

Girls Generation

Girls Generation debuted in 2007. At the time Kpop was largely dominated by male idols and groups. So when Girls Generation came around, they were the perfect counter to the norm and filled a void in Kpop. However, the first two years were above average as for sales and popularity for the group. It wasn’t until 2009 when everything changes with the release of the Kpop classic G.

With that album, Girls Generation sold over a hundred thousand copies and began the tremendous rise to Nation’s Kpop girl group. Even they gain their popularity in the United States.

Taeyeon
Sunny
Tiffany
Hyoyeon
Yuri
Sooyoung
Yoona
Seohyun

How Girls Generation really get the title of Nation's Kpop girl group?

It was given them to by South Korean news and media outlets.

Their major popularity along with an all Korean member lineup, visuals, and musical impact and influence is what made Girls Generation worthy of the title. Also, everybody in the entire country knew who Girls Generation was. Male or female, old or young, asked anyone on the street in Korea in the late 2000s to the early 2010s who Girls Generation was. You would easily get the answer – Nation’s Kpop girl group.

But, when the group went on a hiatus with some members’ contracts expiring with SM entertainment you would imagine that the prestigious ‘Nation’s Kpop girl group’ title would be passed down into the newest group from the same company. And that would be Red Velvet.

Red Velvet

Debuting 2014 after Girls Generation and FX, Red Velvet was the obvious choice for the title of ‘Nation’s Kpop girl group. But, in fact, it really wasn’t. For some odd reasons, Red Velvet is the most controversial Kpop girl group among the big three Kpop girl groups.

Red Velvet was getting a bunch of hate and the reasons were kinda obvious. Debuting at a time when Chinese members of EXO were locked in lawsuits against SM entertainment.

People thought it was bad timing to debut for a new girl group from the same company (Red Velvet). It seemed rushed. On top of that fans of FX criticized the company for debuting a new Kpop girl group when FX was only 4 years old. This could be why the Korean press was hesitant to label Red Velvet as the Nation’s Kpop girl group so soon.

But, you can’t deny that Red Velvet has put all of the doubts away. They have become one of the biggest girl groups in recent history. Red Velvet labeled as instead of Nation’s Kpop girl group is the Nation’s pride. That makes sense. Although some articles named Red Velvet as Nation’s Kpop girl group the title of Nation’s pride actually fits perfectly for the Red Velvet.

There are reasons for that. Red Velvet like Girls Generation Red Velvet has all Korean members. Yet they were able to do things differently. They were one of the few Kpop acts chosen to perform in Pyongyang (North Korea) for Korean peace relations. The first Kpop girl group to do it in 10 years. Red Velvet is also highly respected by the Korean public and the South Korean government for their efforts outside of the Music industry. Red Velvet is an ambassador for the Red cross and UNICEF.

Red Velvet was the creators of some of Kpop’s biggest ever hits like ‘Dum Dum, Red flavor, Peek-a-boo, Bad boy, and Psycho’. But one surprising thing that Red Velvetdoes, they actually compete with Twice on sales in international. As an example, without proper promotions except for one US tour, Red Velvet hit 3 number 1 albums on the US iTunes chart and four number 1 Billboard world album charts. They doing it with their latest hit ‘Psycho’.

That is impressive due to promotions in South Korea being cut short. They still won 3 times in a row on music core Nikigayo. Getting their 3rd triple crown ever with 9 wins in total. Red Velvet is really strong and powerful. But what about their worldwide sensation counterparts – Blackpink.

Black Pink

Blackpink is in our area since 2016. The youngest Kpop girl group in the new generation (3rd generation) among the big 3 Kpop girl groups. Like Twice, Blackpink is multicultural. Having South Korean members, yet Kim Jennie and Pose grew up in New Zealand and Australia learning English. Lisa (Lalisa Manoban) comes from Thailand. Representing Southeast Asia.

So, in South Korean eyes, Blackpink isn’t the epitome of the Korean nationality for the title of ‘Nation’s Kpop girl group’. However, Blackpink’s rise in worldwide popularity is historic. In this generation of Kpop girl groups. But, that wasn’t done by accident. Created with members with foreign backgrounds YG knew what market they would attract.

But a problem Blackpink faced that they couldn’t do really anything about was lack of promotions. Groups like Gidol, Everglow, and Mamamoo captured Korean fans over the past year with that break between ‘Kill this love’ and their latest release ‘How you like that’. Those other Kpop girl groups rose to get the attention of fans of Blackpink (Blinks). But, it was only temporary. People were dying for anything Blackpink.

But remember when Blackpink made headlines by performing at ‘Coachella’. Celebrities also fell for Blackpink. So, no other Kpop girl group in history has been leading the rise of Kpop with 6 number 1 digital songs on the Billboard charts. Now with the major comeback of The Album. Yes, it can be called the album since everybody is crying for it.

Blackpink now has a number 1 album as it blitzed into the Billboard hot 100 at 59 with ‘Lovesick girls’. Just days ago album became a million-seller in only 20 days. There is literally no one comparable that is doing that for Kpop. All those reasons justified the Blackpink value for the title of Nation’s Kpop girl group. However, there are reasons that the title of Nation’s Kpop girl group does not suit Blackpink. It’s like putting a square peg in a round hole.

Twice

The literal definition of a Kpop sensation is Twice. JYP Entertainment has been a leader in Kpop for years with breakout idol groups like GOD, 2 PM, Wonder Girls, Miss A, and GOT 7. But in 2015 JYP entertainment would find and polish their hidden gems in their training pool. We met the talented trainees competing to be JYP’s next girl group. These performances and voting on the show were the first steps for Twice to become the Nation’s Kpop girl group.

Now as we know that Twice is the Nation’s Kpop Girl group now. But, It is miracle how they get crowned as Nation’s Kpop girl group over Red Velvet and Blackpink. Twice came from a whole different company than Girls Generation the first Nation’s Kpop girl group in JYP. Twice also a larger girl group like first Nation’s Kpop girl group – Girls Generation.

Nayeon
Jeongyeon
Momo
Sana
Jihyo
Mina
Dahyun
Chaeyoung
Tzuyu

But, members come from different nationalities like Blackpink with three Japanese members (Momo, Sana, and Mina) and one Taiwanese (Tzuyu). That helped Twice dominate in Japan selling over 2 million albums in the country right behind first Nation’s Kpop girl group Girls Generation. Sold out the biggest venue the Tokyo Dome for two nights in only minutes.For some reason or another Twice music even back when JYP was producing it felt familiar.

It appeared to a larger number of listeners young and young adults. A crutch many would say Twice used playing it safe with their music and concepts. But with songs like ‘Dance the night away’, ‘Fancy’, ‘Feel special’, ‘More and more’, and the latest shift into the mature and unique concepts like ‘I can’t stop me’ and ‘Alcohol-free’. Twice will gain more and more fans.

Twice also became a sensation by having viral moments numerous times in South Korea. With the bunch of people online searching for fan camps, key choreography points, and cute moments. Twice became known very well with their sales. If you combined Red Velvet and Blackpink sales in South Korea altogether, They still aren’t even anywhere near Twice as numbers.

Twice dominates the Kpop girl group category obtaining 37% of sales among all Kpop girl groups. Competing with top Kpop boy groups when no other Kpop girl group are. Twice won 97 first places on music shows, on track to becoming the next group with the most in Kpop history. Twice are also winners of 15 Daesang’s and three straight years of the year at Mama. Having lifetime sales of 9 million copies over their five-year career.

Twice doesn’t have competition in Korea they do lack internationally. Twice with 12 eps and album released only had one number 1. This could be where Twice and JYP entertainment makes moves next. Looking back at the Twice light tour in 2019, Twice had the 3rd biggest Kpop tour in the USA. Selling it out in fact behind BTS and Blackpink. Slightly Ranking in just over 30 million dollars. They have done it without any real USA press or interviews.

The title of Nation’s Kpop girl group belongs to Twice. But its’ for now. With the introduction of a whole new generation in Kpop led by G Idol, Luna, Itsy, and SM entertainment’s new girl group AESPA that means the crown of Nation’s Kpop girl group could soon be up for grabs.