Heepsy, the world's biggest influencer search tool, released a list titled "Top 10 Music Influencers in Japan in 2021," which looks into an artist's influence on Instagram. Among the numerous Japanese artists on the list, the top three are surprisingly from South Korea, with EXO's main rapper Chanyeol at the very top. Keep on reading to learn more.
EXO member Chanyeol ranked number one, with a huge number of his following coming from the Hokkaido prefecture in Japan. Currently, the idol has 22.6 million followers and averaged 1.9 million likes per post, earning him 8.4% engagement from his followers. There are numerous reasons why Chanyeol may be ranking high on the list.
In 2020, Chanyeol, along with Sehun in EXO-SC, made a comeback on July 13, 2020, with their first full-length studio album "1 Billion Views" with a title track of the same name. The album itself peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Charts and at number 10 on Japan's Oricon Album Chart. Chanyeol and Sehun also became the brand endorsers for Cass Fresh.
Chanyeol also became one of the new brand ambassadors for Prada, alongside labelmate Irene from Red Velvet. He is also the brand ambassador for Acqua di Parma, an Italian fragrance brand. Up until Oct. 2020, Chanyeol was also active on his YouTube channel, NNG.
RELATED: Prada Announces Red Velvet Irene and EXO Chanyeol As Their New Brand Ambassadors
However, there could also be a negative reason as to why Chanyeol had such high engagement on his social media accounts.
Back on Oct. 29, 2020, an unnamed female netizen shared a post to an online community forum. In her post, she claimed to be his ex-girlfriend of three years. She accuses Chanyeol of cheating on her throughout their relationship by sleeping with numerous women behind her back. The netizen also accused the idol of backstabbing a fellow EXO member. The netizen also shared photos as supposed proof, but the photos have since under scrutiny for being altered and edited.
RELATED: Netizen Claims to be EXO Chanyeol's Ex-Girlfriend + Accuses Him of Cheating on Her
SM Entertainment had released a statement at the time, saying that they had no official position on the matter.
While international fans have since released their evidence, disproving the netizen's claims, the Korean public's view of Chanyeol was tainted. During the peak of the scandal, numerous Korean netizens flooded Chanyeol's Instagram account with malicious and hateful comments, saying that they were both angry and disappointed. Some commented concerning the situation, while others also insulted his alleged lack of music skills. Nevertheless, fans (EXO-Ls and Yeolmaes) still expressed their support and advised others to take the issue with a pinch of salt.
RELATED: Korean Netizens Flood EXO Chanyeol's Instagram With Hate Comments Amid Alleged Ex-Girlfriend Scandal
On Dec. 8, 2020, it was announced that Chanyeol would be making his return to the entertainment industry with an appearance on SBS's "Law of the Jungle." While fans of the artist were overjoyed, the general Korean public was not as pleased and demanded the program to exclude the idol from their lineup. In the end, he was stil part of the show.
RELATED: EXO Chanyeol Faces Backlash Following News of Upcoming Appearance in 'Law of the Jungle'
The second most influential musical act is, surprisingly, Chanyeol's label, SM Entertainment! The company has 10.6 million followers and garners 230 thousand likes per post, meaning they get 2.2% engagement. They have a large following in Osaka, Japan. SM Entertainment is famous for housing numerous big-name artists, such as BoA, TVXQ, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, EXO, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa.
The third most influential musical act in BTS, which has a large following from Shiga, Japan. The group has 4.3 million followers from that said location and earns 170 thousand likes per post from them, meaning they garnered 3.9% engagement. The group was the number-one most viewed artist in Japan in 2020 and achieved a higher level of popularity in the country following the release of "Dynamite".
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Written by Alexa Lewis
