Three tunes debut on this week’s Hot Trending Songs chart, Billboard’s ranking of the cuts that earn the most mentions on Twitter every tracking period. Two launch inside the top 10—Mark’s “Child” and Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby’s “Do We Have A Problem?” start at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively—while one other new release begins its time on the tally closer to the bottom. The lowest-ranking of the bunch does help the musician behind it join a very exclusive club, and the single might only be getting started on the social tally.
Jung Kook debuts his new smash “Stay Alive” at No. 16 on the 20-spot Hot Trending Songs chart. The BTS member has reached the list before, and by snagging his second career placement, he becomes just the fourth solo male K-pop musician to appear on the roster more than once. He is now on the same level as BamBam, Mark Tuan and his BTS bandmate Jin in managing this impressive showing.
The BTS superstar first hit the Hot Trending Songs chart in early December 2021 when he barely managed to break onto the list. Jung Kook’s cover of Harry Styles’ single “Falling” debuted and peaked at No. 20 for one turn before disappearing. Interestingly, the original version of the track had appeared on the list just weeks prior.
The first solo male K-pop artist (a musician known primarily for creating music that can be classified as K-pop) to accrue more than one hit on the Hot Trending Songs chart was Jin, another BTS singer. The star’s own compositions “Yours” and “Super Tuna” have already spent double-digit weeks somewhere on the tally, and the two singles have both broken into the top 10.
In January 2022, BamBam doubled the number of solo male K-pop artists that have reached the Hot Trending Songs chart more than once. The Got7 musician and solo performer’s singles “Who Are You” with Red Velvet musician Seulgi and his solo smash “Slo Mo” both peaked inside the top 10 on the social-only tally, with the latter currently sitting at its No. 3 high point.
Fellow solo male K-pop star Mark Tuan has also pushed more than one single to the Hot Trending Songs chart, and he might not be done doing so yet. One of BamBam’s Got7 bandmates, he has seen his own releases “Last Breath” and “My Life” find space on the ranking, though so far, he hasn’t reached the upper half of the list.
Several other solo male artists who focus on K-pop have also landed on the Hot Trending Songs chart, though they’ve only done so once, at least up until this point. Fellow BTS powerhouse Suga, Exo talent Kai, Sam Kim, MJ, Seventeen’s Woozi and NCT member Mark have all appeared on the list with a single cut on their own, with the latter act doing so for the first time this week.