5sos are not a one hit wonder and we need to talk about it.
Something that has been bothering me lately is how the conversation around 5SOS’s career always sounds like they are a one-hit wonder, or that they are doing so badly on the charts or whatever. That they stopped being relevant after 2014. I hate how modern music is always revolved around charts, numbers, and drama.
So firstly, when measuring an artist’s success, your first point should be their longevity. And by longevity, I mean if they can put out stuff years after their debut and still have people listening to and caring about it, which is exactly the case with 5SOS.
Secondly, when we talk about 5SOS’s music, why are we ignoring that those boys had like four hits in their careers? And by hits, I mean songs that are recognizable by the average listener (SLSP, YB, Teeth, Easier). And I am sure there are more, but those are the most popular. Do you even realize how hard that is? How hard it is to not make one hit, but four?
Thirdly, yes, 5SOS may not have 100 million views on a song. But they could still pull up their fan base and sell out an arena. Compare that to K-pop songs that have millions of views, yet they chart nowhere and are never recognized by anyone outside of the fandom. I came across a song yesterday called “Choom.” It seems like it had 100 million views in less than a month. Did that song chart anywhere? Does anyone around you know it? Does it even exist outside of YouTube and possibly TikTok?
I am not talking badly about anyone, but what I am saying is that people tend to minimize the longevity of 5SOS just because they aren’t pulling Taylor Swift’s numbers, when no one is pulling Taylor Swift’s numbers but Taylor Swift.
These boys have been in a band for 15 years with four radio hits, three number-one albums, and more than four world tours. And with all of that, they are still crafting music they care about, music that you don’t play as background noise or skip.
And this is not only true for 5SOS, but for any artist nowadays. I don’t even think my favorite songs have charted anywhere or that anyone knows of them.
Why do we care about this anyway, when music is supposed to be celebrated and cherished and shared and talked about? But some of y’all act like 5SOS have like 300 people listening to their music, when they could still bring millions of streams even with music that isn’t charting anywhere.
We are so accustomed to and used to seeing TikTok songs have billions of streams that anything else looks like a flop and isn’t worthy of our attention.
5SOS’s career wasn’t sabotaged, and it couldn’t have been better. I think it is amazing the way it is, and I think the boys are proud, and we should be proud too that we still have them as a band and as friends. Because honestly if I am still making music after more than a decade and selling out some shows and having millions of streams on my new album how could this ever be a flop?????