From aespa to GFRIEND — Here are the Most Notable Events in K-Pop in 2021

On December 9, South Korean media outlet Hankook Ilbo named the most notable events in K-pop in 2021. Keep on reading to see what was selected.

Brave Girls Reverse Run With 'Rollin''

One of the hottest keywords in the K-pop music industry is "reverse run." In 2020, Rain's "GANG" saw a reverse run following a crazy meme that went viral in South Korea. In 2021, the girl group that saw success due to a reverse run on the charts is Brave Girls with their 2017 hit, "Rollin'."

In March, "Rollin'" suddenly shot up in the charts after four years of release, sweeping the top of several major music charts. The song saw a resurgence in popularity because a YouTuber released a compilation video of Brave Girls performing the song at military bases, editing comments from people recalling their memories of their time in the military and with Brave Girls in the video.

The video went viral, and Brave Girls became a success overnight. Following "Rollin'," their song "We Ride" also rose in the charts. The girls quickly made a comeback with "Chi Mat Ba Ram" in June 2021, and the music video hit 10 million views on YouTube just a day after its release. In three days, the music video surpassed 20 million views.

Other songs that saw a reverse run in South Korea include LABOUM's "Journey to Atlantic," which was featured on "Hangout with Yoo." Songs by After School, SHINee, 2PM, and 9Muses, also saw a resurgence following a segment on "MMTG" featuring old school classic K-pop songs.

The Birth of the Fourth Generation of K-Pop

Another keyword that was popular this year is "fourth-generation idols."

Several popular K-pop groups saw massive success in 2021, such as aespa, NCT, ENHYPEN, TXT, Stray Kids, THE BOYZ and ATEEZ.

At the end of this year, IVE and Billlie made their debut, and the competition to be the biggest fourth-generation K-pop group has become even hotter.

The most prominent fourth-generation group at the moment is aespa. The group's first mini-album, "Savage," entered the Billboard 200, ranking at number 20, making it the highest K-pop girl group album on the charts.

Additionally, NCT 127's third studio album, "Sticker," charted at the Billboard 200 for eleven weeks in a row.

ENHYPEN set a record for entering the Billboard 200 charts at number 11 with their first studio album, "Dimension: Dilemma."

TXT also made their mark on the Billboard charts, entering the top five of the Billboard 200 with "The Chaos Chapter: Freeze."

From IZ*ONE to Lovelyz — The Disbandment of Several K-Pop Girl Groups

In 2021, several top K-pop girl groups, who have been active for a long time and earned massive fan bases, ended up disbanding.

IZ*ONE disbanded in April 2021 following the expiration of the contract. During their time as a group, IZ*ONE was popular in South Korea and Japan, and many had hoped that the group would extend their contract to debut a sub-unit. However, all the members returned to their original companies and ceased activities as a group.

GFRIEND announced their disbandment in May 2021. This disbandment came as a shock for many, as they had been active days before the announcement. GFRIEND was known as one of the most popular K-pop girl groups of the third generation, with hit songs such as "Glass Bead," "Me Gustas Tu," "Time for the Moon Night" and "MAGO."

Former GFRIEND members Eunha, SinB and Umji are scheduled to make their re-debut as a three-member girl group named VIVIZ.

Lovelyz disbanded in November 2021 following the expiration of their contracts with Woollim Entertainment. Lovelyz debuted in 2014 with an innocent concept and had not released any new music for a year and two months prior to their disbandment. All the members except Baby Soul chose to leave Woollim Entertainment.