The 3rd Generation Boy Group Song That Took 11 Years To Go Viral — Thanks To TikTok Of Course

Following the explosive global expansion of K-Pop during its second generation, the third generation of groups debuted in the highly competitive market with new promising talents for K-Pop fans to know and love.

In 2012 alone, over 20 new K-Pop boy groups debuted, introducing fans to 3rd-gen favorites such as B.A.P, A-JAX, BTOB, EXO, NU’EST, VIXX, and more. That number seems small given recent years, but back then, it was a huge number.

B.A.P at the “2012 MAMA Awards”

With a large number of groups debuting each year among already active groups, the chances that each group will reach success and become household names are low. The rise to fame is often a game of talent, luck, and often, the money and resources of the company managing the idols. Chasing their dreams, a number of broadcast channels created survival shows to try to give lesser-known idols a second chance.

“The Unit,” a second-chance idol survival program from 2017

Among those who hoped for a new start were NU’EST’s JR, Baekho, Minhyun, and Ren, who joined season 2 of Produce 101 in 2017 after their recent releases failed to reach commercial success at the time.

Their participation in the program gained a belated appreciation for their discography, and many NU’EST songs climbed back up the charts. Previously released albums were also sold out, cementing the success of their participation on the show, and member Minhyun became a member of the Produce 101 debut group WANNA ONE.

NU’EST on “Produce 101” | Mnet

The group continued to promote together until 2022, when their contracts with Pledis Entertainment expired and only Baekho and Minhyun renewed. Even after their disbandment, they saw renewed interest thanks to the everyone’s favorite social media app, TikTok.

NO WAY aaron knows nuest face is making a comeback and trending these days on tiktok 😂

alexa did a little dancey of face and aaron saw her. he saw somebody doing nuest face challenge n asked him “sunbaenim you dont know?”
this scene is funny LOL@Korean_Cowboys @AleXa_ZB pic.twitter.com/yz0PagiumG

— nuesvtws (@nuesvtgemini) January 8, 2023

In October 2022, a remixed version of their debut song “Face” went viral on TikTok in Vietnam. The song then began to trend throughout Southeast Asia before once again trending in Korea. Netizens found that the group has gained over 17,000 unique listeners since their song began to trend on TikTok, according to MelOn.

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NU’EST’s unique listener progression from November 2022 to February 2023 | MelOn

The song even reached the top of Korea’s TikTok music chart in the first week of December.

Their sudden resurgence on the charts came after a ten-year journey of both successes and heartbreaks and showed the lasting power of the talented group!

Check out the song in question, “Face,” below: