u/Major-Specialist3658

My friend and i were talking about this on disc:

“ngl it’s sooo hard to be a soloist. even bts w the hybe money only jungkook was able to have a real hit. for the dudes it’s harder tbh to capture the general public… most of them just run w fandom support. If u compare this to the girls, u got the bp girls that all got a hit, sunmi, chungha, yena, iu, taeyeon, somi etc… like sure some had a previous group fandom but these ppl actual had viral hits and were able to build beyond that fandom. Ik so many new kpop stans that like sunmi & taeyeon and only know them as soloists lol.”

But it made me think um like even the girlies like hm they not doing as well as I remember. I think yenas catch catch smashed both internationally and domestically cuz the trend was everywhere but here are some stats for some girlies in 2021 vs 2025:

Chungha: she released a ton of singles for her album Querencia and all had over 50 mil streams vs stress 8 mil
Somi: dumb dumb (179 mil), xoxo (132 mil) vs extra (9 mil), closer (15 mil)
Sunmi: tail (57 mil) vs cynical (1.7 mil)
It’s not the girls let’s look at the dudes too:
Baekhyun: bambi (97 mil) vs elevator (16 mil)
Kai: rover (206 mil) vs wait on me (27 mil)

A part of me is like did new soloists come in and replace these ppl but even that im not sure… ik some acts did go solo but idk if they got a hit w the public ig. Last one i can kinda remember is nayeon w pop also jisoo flower i believe. Wait dayoung too w body. Mb there was more after im not sure.

Just made me realize how it’s so hard to go solo since u don’t got ships/content to keep fans still invested. Kinda thought ex riize dude would smash cuz we all did support him but not many tuned in… im guessing it’s cuz he doesn’t have that much of a fanbase. ATP i think u gotta strike when the irons hot or else it’s hard. Makes me understand more why groups are staying together longer than ppl go their individual ways.

Lemme give some examples… all these groups were successful but kinda went on hiatus/disbandment after 5-7 years:

- miss a: 2010-2015 (ik they disbanded in 2017 but only you was their last single and that was 2015)
- 2ne1: 2009-2016
- sistar: 2010-2017

compare this to groups nowadays that still are thriving and some are even reaching new peaks now:

- twice still going strong after 10 years and still get consistent cbs
- seventeen i always see a lotta releases from them
- stray kids reaching 8 years and still going strong 💪 same w idle txt itzy all around the same time debut
- even some mid tier groups reaching 7 year ish mark and still together like cravity onf etc

i don’t rlly have anything to say here 😭😭😭 so im just filling in some space lol 😝