Jung Kook, a member of the superstar South Korean group BTS, released his first solo album, Golden, on Nov. 3. In the days that followed, one of his singles, Seven, went platinum. It had already reached a billion streams on Spotify faster than any song previously.
Welcome to the latest phase in K-pop’s global expansion.
A few days after the solo album dropped, Jung Kook, 26, whose real name is Jeon Jung-kook, performed on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He sat down with the comedic American host who rattled off Jung Kook’s many achievements in front of an adoring crowd.
“You really make it sound like I’m a huge, global pop star,” Jung Kook said, smiling.
Over the next few weeks, the video of his conversation with Fallon went on to accumulate more than 5 million YouTube views, as additional evidence of Jung Kook’s growing solo stardom continued to pile up.
This month, with more than half a billion streams on both Spotify and YouTube, Jung Kook has leapt to No. 10 on Bloomberg’s Pop Star Power Rankings.
Along the way, Jung Kook managed to top his own bandmates to become the new record holder for the K-pop act with the most ever streams on Spotify.
With BTS currently on hiatus as its seven members need to complete their mandatory military service, each of the bandmates has been pursuing individual music projects – all of which have enjoyed some success. Jung Kook’s album represents a crucial inflexion point, however, not just for him but also for his label, Hybe Co.
Bang Si-Hyuk, Hybe’s founder and chairman, attributes the success of his solo project, in part, to Scooter Braun, a Hybe executive, who has managed Justin Bieber and Kanye West. Early on, Braun took an interest in Jung Kook’s solo release.
Braun’s imprint can be seen in the parade of big names featured on the release, which includes Jack Harlow, Major Lazer and Latto. Andrew Watt, a songwriter and producer who has worked with Bieber and Miley Cyrus, wrote Seven. Most notably, Jung Kook sang the entire album in English.
In the past, some BTS songs have included English words or featured English-language versions, so Jung Kook’s decision isn’t entirely surprising. Even so, the linguistic choice suggests a strong focus on stateside success – as do other details of the rollout.
Jung Kook released several singles ahead of the album, an atypical move for K-pop stars. And his early solo appearances were heavily focused on US audiences. In addition to Fallon, Jung Kook also popped up on NBC’s Today show and performed in New York City’s Times Square.
With the music and marketing clicking with fans around the world, Jung Kook’s BTS mates have taken note.
“As soon as I saw that [album] cover I thought, ‘He’s a true pop star,’” BTS member Suga, whose real name is Min Yoon-gi, said during a chat on the group’s YouTube channel. “We finally have an Asian pop star.”
The success of Golden may provide a blueprint that other solo K-pop stars could follow.
“One obvious thing is to have English-language songs because they make it accessible to a larger audience,” said Grace Kao, a professor of sociology at Yale University who has studied BTS.
At the same time, the shift in focus overseas could be a bit disorienting for longtime K-pop consumers.
“A lot of K-pop songs are already grappling with this — what is it that makes us Korean,” Kao said. “Is K-pop still Korean?”
For some devoted BTS fans, the fact that other people wrote Jung Kook’s songs might also take some getting used to.
“It was a little bit hard as a fan just because, just being a fan of BTS for so long, one of the things that hooks you is they’re so genuine and authentic,” said Kayla Coleman, one of the hosts of Stanning BTS, a podcast focused on the group.
She went on to note that “typically their music is really meaningful” and the new approach is less personal.
Still, she said, “We as fans are satisfied.”
“I feel like with his solo work, to me, it’s like he is a superstar,” Bethany McMillen, co-host of the podcast, said. “He just really is a complete superstar.”
