u/atzbluebird

I wanted to share what San from ATEEZ said during a recent live stream. Fans had mentioned that they were worried about the recent surge of hateful comments he's been facing online since his dance move went viral. So he addressed it in the most honest, empathetic and San way possible.

His perspective was so grounded, wise, and deeply comforting that I wanted to share it here, because I think it will resonate with many of us who keep seeing so much negativity online.

>Having done this for over 8 years, there isn't actually anything that hurtful (nowadays). If I were asked to intentionally think of something deeply hurtful, I might feel bad but usually I just think, "Well, yeah, those kinds of things happen." Because it (hate) is an emotion that everyone lives with and experiences...so I'm not that affected by it. So if you're worried or feeling down because you think I'm struggling, it's okay to set those worries aside.

>Because from the moment I entered this entertainment industry, the fact that "if there are people who like you, there will also be people who hate or dislike you" is completely natural. I never thought even for a second that all 100 out of 100 people will like me. That’s impossible to begin with. Not only can't I force it, but there are people in the world who just dislike others for no reason, and everyone has probably encountered someone like that.

He accepts that he can’t control what people type behind screen names, and that is part of his job in the industry but he chooses where he focuses his energy, and accepting that reality probably brings immense freedom and peace.

>But more than that, I choose to think positively. There are precious people around me, and people who love me, and I feel that is more than enough.
Also, there is something in this world called 'karma.' Karma exists, and it always comes around. Honestly, I don't want to say bad things or wish ill on those folks because of it. Because (I understand that) hate too, is one of the emotions humans have. So what I mean is, it's (understandable) for them to stay faithful to that emotion as it is.

San also pointed out the absurdity of people wasting their limited lives spreading toxicity online. But it takes a truly rare kind of emotional maturity to look at a wall of online hate, strip away the noise, and address it with zero hostility or bitterness.

>You shouldn't do it [slander]. Anonymity makes it easy, and maybe it entertains them. Everyone is an adult here, they know you shouldn't do it, yet they do it anyway.

>I mean, they are using their precious time, even using their time typing just to say malicious things about someone else. How much of a waste/unfortunate is that?

>I hope society gradually becomes a bit more mature. I'm not thinking about anything overly grand, I just hope the world becomes a bit more better. Of course, I am not a completely mature person yet either, but still, compared to them, isn't that the case?

He remarked during that live that he hoped the world would be a bit more generous to Spider-Man too, (in BND, so adorable) and then ATINYs immediately turned the sentiment right back around on him and hoped that the world was kinder to San.

>I'm doing fine. Everything's fine even if they're not kind(to me). However, I would be grateful if they listened to ATEEZ songs at least once and then wrote something. Even if they're not generous, it's totally fine to be honest with those feelings, but first I hope they just listen to ATEEZ songs once.

He finally ended it by saying,

>Why speak ill of others? What matters more to me is that we, ATEEZ, do well. Why would I go out of my way to stand on the same playing field and do something like that (lower myself to that level)?

>There is a fitting saying for this, "The stronger the light, the darker the shadow." But a shadow can only cover one side of it.

Reminding us all that the end of the day, hate is just proof that someone is shining brightly enough to cast a shadow and that we can all choose to focus on the silver lining.

I do want to add that this level of grace and resilience didn't come out of nowhere. Especially for San.

He's constantly been facing all sorts of hate since he was a rookie. At one point in his career, the hate got so overwhelming that he literally had to ask his parents not to look up his name online. So I find San’s emotional intelligence, mental strength, and the way he chooses to navigate the world so remarkable.

His words are also such a comforting reminder that we don't need to fight every battle or lower ourselves to toxic levels to protect the things we love and I hope it brings a little peace to anyone who’s been feeling heavy lately.

Hongjoong talked about BAD's success during a recent live, and I thought what he said was worth sharing here.

He shared that for a while, "the blood of BAD will be flowing through ATEEZ" (suggesting that they would be performing the song frequently at upcoming festivals and events for a while) because of how popular it has become and that he has been been receiving a lot of messages and congratulations lately, and people keep asking him how he feels about the recent success.

His answer is that while they're incredibly grateful, his mindset or vision hasn't changed much.

In the past, whenever they did interviews, reporters would always ask about ATEEZ's lack of domestic recognition in SK.

He says that he was always okay handling those kinds of awkward or blunt questions about their lack of domestic popularity, but he was also aware that it hurt ATINY's feelings to hear their fav group being questioned like that and he used to feel sorry that ATINY had to watch the artists they love repeatedly be put in that position.

Now after BAD's domestic success, he is hoping that they won't be asked this question anymore.

He also said that ATEEZ has prepared a lot of things for year. They've been recording a lot and have many plans in place, and the members all agree that they don't want to change their original direction simply because BAD became successful.

They have never once considered setting aside what they have already prepared to make more music in the style of BAD. Instead, they're going to keep releasing what they've already been working on.

They only hope that because BAD introduced ATEEZ to more people, the new audience might tune in when they show their unique identity/sound in future releases/promotions and this might open up new opportunities for them.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's something Hongjoong has been saying for years when they were getting such questions.

Years later after finally having an organic domestic hit, their answer hasn't changed.

2022 interview

>

2023 interview

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/k-pop/20230326/interview-how-ateez-achieved-worldwide-success

Edit : wording and grammar

There is a lot of misinformation circulating regarding ATEEZ, KQ Entertainment, and their industry standing. Many have begun to use alleged connections to "backing" as a gotcha moment to claim ATEEZ didn’t earn their place in the industry.

Their arguments are filled with misinformation. So I am making this post because I wanted to clarify these points to ensure new Atiny aren’t misled and learn about ATEEZ's growth and KQ's backing.

Firstly, Let me make this clear. KQ was a small company. Even today, they are classified as such by Korean media like The Korea Times and ATEEZ are counted among the groups known as the “small agency miracles.”

https://preview.redd.it/mdw9ujtl9zgh1.png?width=963&format=png&auto=webp&s=f22938297df50d796ef2614c240c3fa2281219c8

So, why do people still deny this? Let's examine their arguments one by one.

1. Stone Music & CJ ENM: Distribution? Subsidiary?

Let’s start with the easiest one.

Speculation arose during Kingdom that ATEEZ received CJ ENM funding while other groups had restrictions over budgets for the stages. In reality, they were being smart by simply reusing props from their 2020 Seoul concert. This led to widespread hate and false media narratives claiming Mnet was "pushing" ATEEZ to win and that KQ was a CJ ENM subsidiary, which then had to be addressed by KQ as false.

So what is their relationship with CJENM?

Stone Music Entertainment, while affiliated with CJ ENM, functioned strictly as a distributor for their music domestically. basically making sure the albums are available in retail shops. They used to post their MVs on their Youtube Channel as well because of the same reason i.e they are distributers.

This is standard industry practice, every single Kpop group has some distributor, even some very nugu groups do. This is NOT a sign of corporate ownership.

More importantly, distributors take a cut of profits and not the other way around. Distribution ≠ Affiliation

Plus this distribution deal didn't really solve ATEEZ’s biggest challenge at the time: their major fanbase is outside of Korea.

Unfortunately, their international distribution partners (Sony Music/RCA) barely did anything in getting physical albums to global fans but we will come to this later.

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2. ATEEZ were able to do a world tour early in their career

ATINYs sparked ATEEZ's first tour through a campaign on MyMusicTaste. MMT is a concert planning company, that lets supporters request live performances in their own cities.

The high volume of requests allowed KQ and promoters to confirm demand and book venues with slightly lower financial risk.

ATEEZ toured in small theaters of some 800-1k range seats, no fancy tour props with minimal staff. Mingi mentioned they had only about 10 staff members total at the time. Their major partnership with AEG came much much later.

>MyMusicTaste shared with Forbes that interest and demand in the tour actually went up after the dates were confirmed—which typically does not happen as not every fan requesting artists to visit typically buy tickets after factors like expenses and life events. This time, demand had grown so large that the humble venues the original crowdfunders were willing to pay for seemed potentially too tiny come show day.

articles about this

Their momentum came from genuine fandom interest in their performance skills and music, rather than some company push. KQ was essentially responding to a demand the fans had already created.

Similarly, Ateez’s RCA deal came after their successful world tour and high demonstrated U.S. interest and not the other way around.

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3. Sony Music Korea Investment:

It is true that Sony Music Korea (not the global parent company) invested in KQ in 2017. This was part of a broader strategy where Sony Korea was looking to invest in several small labels during the K-pop boom around 2017.

Looking at their roster, none of the acts they invested in were big company artists.

While Sony Korea acquired a 33% stake in KQ, this does not equate to an immediate, massive cash injection that eliminated all of their financial struggles.
As ATEEZ members and staff have openly discussed, the company did face some monetary and operational struggles in their early days.

The fact that KQ had to sell 33% of shares in 2017 itself suggests they were facing financial struggles at the time despite having BlockB signed to them. ( I will come to this point later)

And if you read the original article, it says,

>Sony Music, KQ Entertainment plans to not only distribute albums and music in the future, but also promote active overseas activities with Sony Music's global network.

The WHOLE POINT of the investment was that Sony Music KOREA will be a distributor of KQ's artists' music and get a cut of their profits as investors, bringing me back to the point I made earlier, SONY MUSIC/RCA did shit to distribute their CDs internationally or promote ATEEZ.

Atiny fanbase (ATEEZ Community) had to reach out to HELLO82 an indie variety show company to bring ATEEZ's albums to the shelves in the US and other places which was a monumental step for ATEEZ's success on the Billboard Charts and paved the way for many other smaller kpop artists to do the same.

>Chain department stores have been increasingly carrying more K-pop content, but almost exclusively by those with label deals or representation in the U.S. While RCA Records under Sony Music signed ATEEZ in 2019, the group had yet to have its music available in retail stores stateside. (RCA declined to comment by time of publication on its relationship with ATEEZ) .... hello82 quickly made inroads.

In fact, despite the investment in 2017, KQ’s CEO has stated in an interview that during debut training, the company was in such a "tight financial situation" that he personally wanted to fund the members' LA training when executives hesitated to do so.

>"Although I wanted to make the most of [LA training], the company was in a very tight financial situation. The executives were not sold on the idea... The executives were going back and forth. So I remember making the decision, 'If the company doesn't have the money, let me give it my own money, so let's just send ATEEZ to America as planned.'"

https://preview.redd.it/qhu3y3is9zgh1.png?width=1146&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f5a708f5097ddc002e072ec88a9db1b65f4de05

Furthermore, KQ FELLAZ wasn't some high-budget show by a major network like Mnet. Instead, it was streamed on ATEEZ’s own V Live and YouTube channel. The video garnered barely any views initially; it was only after the performance videos went viral organically that the fans truly took notice.

This underscores that their initial recognition came from fan support and raw talent, not some company promotion. Now compare this with kind of pre-debut hype their peers who have debuted from bigger companies got at the time and you will instantly get why ATEEZ was at a major disadvantage.

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4. They filmed high budget MVs in Morocco for their debut.

The filming in Morocco for "Pirate King" and "Treasure" was a cost-saving measure.

The making film shows that they shot in real outdoor locations to make use of the natural landscape and were seen dealing with difficult conditions like intense heat and sudden rain. (I couldn't find the source that mentioned that) this sort of MV filming was cheaper than filming bigger productions elaborate MVs which are the norm for rookies to garner attention, which ran higher costs due sets, equipment, labor, and post-production etc. They had a staff member/photographer from Morocco who vetted places where they could make use of the natural sets to shoot instead and filmed 2 MVs on a intense 6-day schedule using public tourist spots (you can even spot tourists in the Treasure MV!).

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5. BlockB privilege.

The claim that Block B "funded" ATEEZ debut is not completely true.

People will often argue that because Block B was successful, the agency must have had a lot of money to fund ATEEZ. But what they fail to mention is the unique situation KQ had with BlockB.

Block B met Kim when they were at their original company called Stardom, and they sued the company because of money fraud and won after which Kim set up a different company called Seven Seasons and took over their management. SS was later made into a subsidiary under a bigger company called KQ. A separate label (KQ Produce) handled other artists, producers, and songwriters. Think like Hybe with Source Music and Bighit. Different labels but same parent company.

Why didn’t Kim/KQ sign other talent under SS and why did it remain exclusive to Block B? Speculation is that this was part of the contract they had. Expanding required the KQ rebrand.

Now coming to the main point.

1. No Trainee Debt: Unlike standard K-pop agencies, Seven Seasons was formed specifically to manage Block B AFTER they had already debuted and left their original company. The members had no "trainee debt" for the new agency to recoup, meaning the label couldn't claim the bulk of their early earnings like companies usually do.
2. Revenue Split : While Block B performed well digitally, physical sales were modest compared to peers. More importantly, a significant portion of digital revenue in Korea goes to songwriters and producers, NOT THE LABEL. Since Zico produced the majority of Block B’s discography, so he most definitely retained the majority of the royalties and production fees.+ Zico had a lot of solo income from as a solo artist, producer for other company artists and model generated income, majority of that went directly to him, not the agency. Basically Seven Seasons operated as a management company rather than a full production house. If you read media articles from the time often noted that Block B as a whole earned more than Seven Seasons/KQ Entertainment did from them. We obviously don’t have official numbers, but the combination of having no trainee debt + Zico’s heavy producing role + the agency’s limited role, it is safe to say that the members (particularly Zico) captured the majority of the profits unlike the usual standard idol-company arrangement.
3. ATEEZ was not promoted heavily as Block B’s "juniors." In fact, many Korean Block B fans were initially hostile toward KQ and organized boycotts. The narrative that ATEEZ benefited from Block B’s legacy is untrue. The two fanbases are largely separate.

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The only tangible advantage Block B provided that I can think of was the BB Trippin dance crew, which helped build early hype and continues to be good friends with ATEEZ.

Additionally, Block B’s track record likely gave KQ the credibility to secure the Sony distribution deal, (we all know how that is going lol) but that is where the ''support'' ends.

Also want to address that there was never any indication that KQ was bankrupt or anything. Common misinformation spread by ATINY on twitter. But it is true that ATEEZ never quite had access to quite the same resources and opportunities as a group from the bigger companies might have had.

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TDLR; Those who insist KQ is a "big company" simply because of Block B or Sony Music Korea often lack basic knowledge of ATEEZ’s history or KQ’s actual standing in the industry.

KQ Entertainment has never ranked among the top 10 K-pop agencies prior to ATEEZ's massive success.

While the company had some advantage of Block B’s existence to secure a distribution deal and some income, ATEEZ’s success is the result of smartly overcoming significant financial constraints, plenty of risk, and hard work and not because of any major company backing them. As the members have stated several times in interviews and lives, they struggled immensely in their early days due to various reasons.

Dismissing their hard work by claiming they were "propped up" ignores the reality of their journey and is frankly disrespectful to them imo.

It is easy for outsiders to dismiss ATEEZ’s struggles or label ATINYS as 'liars' because they only see the massive fandom and current success. They fail to recognize the arduous, uphill path they had to climb to reach where they are today.

https://preview.redd.it/14ek33iy9zgh1.png?width=623&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c0dc701bca525a307a86c5f436146842d4ab21d

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A Note on Sources-

I have intentionally limited the number of links in this post to avoid triggering Reddit’s spam filters, as the text is already quite long.

However, the information provided is mostly based on interviews, financial reports, and news articles. If anyone needs specific sources to back up these points, please let me know in the comments, and I am happy to provide them.

I also hope that other knowledgeable ATINYs to chime in with more info+links to help fill in anything that I missed.

edit : formatting + added a lil shout out to the legend Ateezcomm.

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BAD debuts at #42 on the Melon Monthly Chart.

Congratulations to ATEEZ for achieving this huge milestone! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Melon’s Monthly Chart ranks full-month of streams + downloads. High placements are rare for 4th-gen boy groups.

(To put this into context the last time a 4th gen boy group comeback entered Top 50 on this chart was TXT's “Sugar Rush Ride” - #14 in 2023, and X1's ''FLASH'' #44 in 2019 and only these two 4th gen BGs + ATEEZ have entered this chart till date.)

The song also entered the Genie Monthly Chart at #49!!!

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New Peaks and Overall Updates

BAD keeps on climbing the charts since it's release and shows no signs of slowing down.

• It started very low on the Daily Chart at #618 on release day.
• Climbed to it's highest peak of #17 (2nd highest for a 4th gen BG ever) on 27th, and it's maintaining it's position since!
• 100k Unique Listeners: They crushed this milestone just 3 days ago and have stayed above 100k every single day since! (Only other 4th gen BGs to have crossed the 100k ULs mark are TXT and X1).
• Also consistently hitting 190k–200k streams daily on Melon is hugeeee!
• It took roughly 10 days since release to enter the Melon TOP 100 debuting around #81, and hasn't left the chart since, later peaking #12!
• It also peaked at #16 on the Daily Chart (Another 2nd highest for a 4th gen BG) and has been maintaining in the Top 20 since then.

eta:

This is what the Top 100 chart looks like rn...

Also note that these numbers look similar across all major domestic platforms including Youtube South Korea at #2.

It’s clear that casual listeners are tuning in and sticking around!

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Spotify Streams

On Spotify, the streams look very stable and it actually recorded it's highest streams yesterday!

It's very close to crossing the 1M mark soon.

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The song is also charting in multiple other countries including Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong etc.

(I hope that they're able to finally crack into Spotify Global chart this comeback. 🤞)

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I decided to write this as a post this time because I wanted to share some extra context for those who are new to the Kpop/Korean Charts.

These numbers are actually huge when you see the bigger picture!

BAD is doing something really special that doesn’t happen often and super proud of ATEEZ!

edit: wording

Have any new Atiny here? Anyone who joined the fandom after Work/IOMT era?

I'm curious about your journey so far!

How did you first discover ATEEZ, and what was it that made you stop and really pay attention to them?

And now that you've had some time to explore, what do you think of their older albums? Has your bias(es) changed since you joined the fandom?

And the lore? Have you gone down that rabbit hole yet?

I think, coming from a small agency themselves, ATEEZ knows exactly what it's like to hustle for every single shred of exposure. Seeing them actively pay it forward and use their platform to lift up others is just so beautiful...

Seonghwa talked about why he works so hard to film dance challenges with rookie and junior idols in his recent live, and it genuinely made me so soft.

https://preview.redd.it/7l4upfhza7dh1.png?width=1004&format=png&auto=webp&s=ed14aeaaf9c47478897f07e34fa3d6f73906c4fb

He shared that now that ATEEZ is doing well and receiving so much love, he wanted to find a way to give back. He recalled his own rookie days, remembering how desperately he wanted to film challenges with the senior artists he admired, even getting his hair and makeup done on his days off and bringing gifts to the broadcast stations just for a chance to connect. Because those moments became such precious, lasting memories for him, he promised himself that if he ever became popular, he would do the same.

So now, he doesn't want to turn down requests from juniors. He said that he is naturally slow at learning choreography and quickly hits his physical limit, but he still spends his rest days watching videos and practicing diligently because he refuses to do a half-hearted job for them.

He just wants to help, even if it’s only a little and I find this absolutely admirable! and it is so incredibly touching that despite his packed schedule, he puts so much sincere effort into these interactions. 🥺

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ATEEZ consistently films with groups/ rookies from smaller, lesser-known companies that don't get much music show exposure. So far they have filmed challenges with members of groups like CLASSy, Primrose, TRENDZ, Xodiac, E’LAST, The Wind, iii, Weki Meki, DAILY:DIRECTION, USPEER etc... for this comeback and so many others for previous comebacks too! (eta: thanks to u/Funwithnugukpop for compiling the list)

I love that they are actively trying to pull up the next generation behind them. A sign of true leaders of their generation.

They truly live by the motto of HUMBLE AND KINDNESS!

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I’ve been thinking a lot about ATEEZ Choi San’s growth recently, especially with all the viral reels during Ice On My Teeth and BAD, and it honestly makes me so happy and proud to see where he is right now versus where he started.

Until a few years back, the amount of scrutiny and hate he faced for his aggressive, boundary-pushing dancing style was intense, to say the least. It absolutely breaks my heart remembering how he felt the need to shield his own parents from the online noise, asking them not to search his name because of how cruel people were being.

But despite all that hate? He 👏 never👏 toned it down.👏

Instead of conforming or playing it safe in an industry that often expects perfect, doll-like looks and pretty, safe expressions, he leaned into exactly who he was. He perfected his craft, adapted his style to different concepts, stayed resilient, and contributed to creating a new definition for what performer could look like.

Now, the exact things people used to criticize and question him for are the very reasons everyone is completely obsessed with him.

He has become a role model to so many younger idols and even has baddies like Chase Infiniti biasing him!

Seeing him get praised for his intensity, being dubbed the "Duke of the North," for IOMT and now getting his flowers on such a massive scale in SK for his mesmerizing performance for BAD is just so deeply satisfying to watch for me as ATINY. 🥹

Lately, I've been so happy seeing him in the likes of so many of the BAD reels that pop up on my Instagram feed. It means he knows he's going viral for all the right reasons. His family doesn't even need to search him up, he's literally taken over everyone's feed!!!

I’ve been thinking a lot about Choi San’s growth recently, especially with all the viral reels during Ice On My Teeth and BAD, and it honestly makes me so happy and proud to see where he is right now versus where he started.

Until a few years back, the amount of scrutiny and hate he faced for his aggressive, boundary-pushing dancing style was intense, to say the least. It absolutely breaks my heart remembering how he felt the need to shield his own parents from the online noise, asking them not to search his name because of how cruel people were being.

But despite all that hate? He 👏 never👏 toned it down.👏

Instead of conforming or playing it safe in an industry that often expects perfect, doll-like looks and pretty, safe expressions, he leaned into exactly who he was. He perfected his craft, adapted his style to different concepts, stayed resilient, and completely redefined what a "master of performance" looks like.

Now, the exact things people used to criticize and question him for are the very reasons everyone is completely obsessed with him.

He has become a role model to so many younger idols and even has baddies like Chase Infiniti biasing him!

Seeing him get praised for his intensity, being dubbed the "Duke of the North," for IOMT and now getting his flowers on such a massive scale for his mesmerizing performance for BAD is just so deeply satisfying to watch for me as ATINY. 🥹

Lately, I've been so happy seeing him in the likes of so many of the BAD reels that pop up on my Instagram feed. It means he knows he's going viral for all the right reasons. His family doesn't even need to search him up, he's literally taken over everyone's feed!!!