Weekly K-Pop Music Chart 2012 – July Week 4

Ever since our weekly K-Pop music chart started in 2005, no digital single has hit No. 1 – until this week!  2NE1’s “I Love You” rises three spots to become the first ever digital single to top our chart.  When we started our chart in 2005, digital single was just starting to emerge.  Today it has become a common and convenient way for singers to release their new songs.  For years, physical album sales was part of our scoring system but that excluded digital sales, thus limiting many hit songs from getting the top spot.  Now that physical album sales has continued to decline each year and digital music has become more and more important, we have eliminated physical album sales from our scoring.  It takes seven months but we are finally seeing a No. 1 song coming from a digital single.

2NE1 is no stranger to setting new trends.  Ever since the group’s debut, it has raised the bars for all other debuting artists.  2NE1 is also the first group to have multiple title songs on one album and promoting the songs simultaneously.  Now adding to their young and already impressive resume is a chart topping digital single.  Congratulations.

The rise of “I Love You” to No. 1 pushed the other three contenders down one spot each from last week.  Sistar’s former No. 1 song “Loving U” is at No. 2.  There are a lot of loves on our chart as the top two songs are titled “I Love You” and “Loving U”. 😀

Down one spot to No. 3 is T-Ara’s “Day By Day”.  All top three songs have a score of over 900 points, proving that the battle for top is very fierce.  Also down one spot to No. 4 is Super Junior’s “Sexy, Free & Single”.  While this song dominates on TV networks and airplay, it has struggled to gain popularity on independent chart sources and internet rankings.

The four way battle for No. 1 will become a five way battle next week, as a surprise new contender emerges.  Moving up a giant 43 spots to No. 7 this week is Psy’s “Gangnam Style”.  This song has actually outperformed all four idol groups’ songs last week on almost all the internet charts.  Fans outside of Korea and younger generation K-Pop listeners may not be too familiar with Psy but he is very popular in Korea among fans of all ages.  His hilarious style of hip-hop music is always fun to listen to and he is always performing funny dances on stage which is a treat to watch.  “Gangnam Style” is the title song from Part 1 of his sixth album.  This is Psy’s first release in two years.   “Gangnam Style” is written by the singer himself.  It has addictive beats and the lyrics are about penetrating the foundations of modern philosophy. The music video has many guest stars, including 4Minute‘s Hyuna, Yoo Jaesuk and Noh Hongchul.

2PM member Jang Woo Young has his first solo top 10 hit with “Sexy Lady”, moving up 11 spots to No. 8.  This song is coming from Jang Woo Young’s mini-album “23, Male, Single”.  Written by JYP, “Sexy Lady” is an addictive electronic number about getting hypnotized by a sexy woman.

1. (+3) 2NE1 – I Love You ***1st Week @ No. 1***
Score: 937
Genre: R&B

Music: Teddy, Lydia Paek / Lyrics: Teddy
Album: 2NE1 digital single “I Love You”
Watch: MV

2. (-1) Sistar – Loving U
Score: 911
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Ichiro Suezawa, Chance / Lyrics: Ichiro Suezawa, Chance
Album: Sistar Summer Special Album | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

3. (-1) T-Ara – Day By Day
Score: 901
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Cho Young Soo, Kim Tae Hyun / Lyrics: Ahn Young Min
Album: T-ara Mini Album Vol. 6 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

4. (-1) Super Junior – Sexy, Free & Single
Score: 801
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Daniel Klein, Thomas Sardorf, Lasse Lindorff / Lyrics: Yoo Young Jin
Album: Super Junior Vol. 6 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

5. (+1) Juniel – Illa Illa
Score: 688
Genre: Pop Rock

Music: Kim Do Hoon, Lee Sang Ho / Lyrics: Han Sung Ho
Album: Juniel Mini Album Vol. 1 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

6. (-1) f(x) – Electric Shock
Score: 627
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Joachim Vermeulen Windsant, Maarten Ten Hove, Willem Laseroms / Lyrics: Seo Ji Eum
Album: F(x) Mini Album Vol. 2 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

7. (+43) Psy – 강남스타일 (Gangnam Style)
Score: 609
Genre: Hip-Hop

Music: Psy, Yoo Gun Hyung / Lyrics: Psy
Album: Psy Vol. 6 Part 1 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

8. (+11) Jang Woo Young (2PM) – Sexy Lady
Score: 598
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Park Jin Young / Lyrics: Park Jin Young
Album: Jang Woo Young mini-album Vol. 1 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

9. (-2) After School – Flashback
Score: 519
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Saint Binary / Lyrics: Saint Binary
Album: After School Maxi Single Album – Flashback | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

10. (-2) Verbal Jint – 충분히 예뻐 (You Deserve Better (feat. Phantom’s Sanchez))
Score: 492
Genre: Hip-Hop

Music: Verbal Jint, Kiggen / Lyrics: Verbal Jint
Album: Ten Years Of Misreading 1 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

BONUS TRACK:

BTOB & Yoo Sung Eun – 사랑병 (Love Sick)

Genre: Pop Ballad

Album: BTOB & Yoo Sung Eun digital single “Love Sick”

Comment: BTOB’s leader Seo Eun Kwang and Yoo Sung Eun from Voice Korea come together for a digital single titled, “Love Sick.” The song was composed by top composers Kim Do Hun and Park Geun Tae with lyrics penned by Kang Eun Kyung. The two singers do a great job harmonizing in this medium-tempo easy-listening number.  The music video of this song stars 4minute’s Nam Ji Hyun and new male artist Noh Ji Hoon.

About the Soompi Music Chart:

Soompi Music Chart is unlike any other music charts or television rankings.  It takes into account rankings by various major music charts in Korea and airplays of each song, making it an unbiased and objective tally of what’s going on in the world of K-pop.  Our chart is composed of the following sources:

Air Monitor Chart – 15%

GAON Music Chart – 15%
Various Internet charts (Olleh, Bugs, Melon, Soribada, Naver, Daum) – 15%
Billboard Korea – 15%    
SBS Inky Gayo – 10%
MBC+ Show Champion Chart M – 10%
KBS Music Bank K-Chart – 10% 
MNet M!Countdown Chart – 10%

Thanks to Mardi09 for helping on this week’s internet chart research.