V8🍒

Seventeen & BigBang only. 🖕Hybe

[V8🍒 @Ggyudaddy]

The rats are crying in the comments saying it’s only for Korea but babyyyy not when it’s right next to the King of POP!

[Moon the 역전재판 @Moonismean]

Fighting: Where the Korean Influence Actually Lives

When I first started thinking about exploring Korean influences in SEVENTEEN’s music, I instinctively looked for a song where that influence would be obvious. Traditional instruments, references to gugak, maybe a melody that immediately points somewhere unmistakably Korean.

Then I thought about “Fighting,” and honestly, it turned out to be a much more interesting place to start.

Musically, there is very little about “Fighting” that sounds traditionally Korean. It is built around contemporary pop, funk, energetic drums, rap, and the kind of bright, almost excessive energy that makes it impossible to sit still. If we define “Korean influence” only by instrumentation or melody, there is not much to find.

But culture does not only survive in instruments.

Sometimes it survives in a word, in a grammatical ending, in a joke, in the way people complain about being tired, or in the particular way a song talks to its audience.

That is where “Fighting” becomes interesting.

1. The title is already a piece of Korean linguistic history

The first thing that stands out is 파이팅 해야지 (paiting haeyaji).

To an English speaker, “fighting” naturally suggests conflict. In Korean, 파이팅 has taken on a completely different life. It is an established expression of encouragement: something you say when you want someone to do their best, get through something difficult, or simply keep going.

The word itself comes from English, but the meaning is no longer simply English.

This is one of those cases where a borrowed word becomes part of the language that adopts it. In Korean everyday speech, 파이팅 does not require anyone to imagine an actual fight. It can be said before an exam, before work, before a competition, or when a friend is about to deal with something unpleasant.

That is why translating 파이팅 as simply “fight” misses the point.

Depending on the context, it can be closer to “you've got this,” “hang in there,” “let's do this,” or simply “keep going.”

The interesting part is that none of those translations quite reproduce the Korean expression itself.

And then there is 해야지.

2. 해야지 changes the entire mood

해야지 comes from 하다, “to do,” combined with the -아/어야지 construction. In context, it can carry the feeling of recognizing what one has to do: “I should,” “I have to,” “gotta,” or “well, I guess I have to.”

So 파이팅 해야지 is not quite the same thing as somebody dramatically yelling:

FIGHT!

It can sound much more like:

“Gotta keep going, I guess.”

That difference matters because it tells us what kind of motivational song “Fighting” actually is.

The central line, 힘내야지 뭐 어쩌겠어, roughly carries the feeling of “I have to keep going what else can I do?”

There is no grand speech about becoming the best version of yourself.

The song starts with something much less glamorous: the alarm goes off, you want to sleep longer, breakfast gets skipped, coffee is bought on the way, and everyone else on social media somehow seems to be doing better than you.

The problem is not a dramatic personal tragedy.

The problem is that it is Monday morning.

And you are tired.

3. It is almost an anti-motivational song

A lot of motivational pop works by creating a distance between where you are now and where you could eventually be. You are struggling today, but someday you will succeed. Keep pushing, believe in yourself, and everything will work out.

“Fighting” is not particularly interested in that fantasy.

It looks at the exhaustion itself.

The commuters are described as “zombies wearing earphones.” The lyrics move through the small frustrations of an ordinary morning rather than building toward some enormous personal triumph.

That is part of why the song feels comforting.

It does not tell you that everything is fine.

+

[Hate Crave @HateCrave]

The phrase "Army's Against Abusers" is BANNED in the comments of BangtanTv's YouTube, and the phrase "Woman Before Army" is BANNED on Weverse.

This measure was taken to protect Chris Brown, RM and J-hope.

[manu @yumede_manu]

boy groups used to make anthems like this

[Kpop Charts @kchartsmaster]

20 years ago today, BIGBANG made their debut.

[V8🍒 @Ggyudaddy]

@notmygz @iamjendu Why does he have a big head and a small body

[V8🍒 @Ggyudaddy]

@iamjendu @jentleggyu Is this real? Because that’s fcked up

[Moon the 역전재판 @Moonismean]

What These “All-Time First-Week Sales” Actually Mean

There’s a problem with calling this a ranking of the “highest first-week sales worldwide of all time”: the numbers shown here are not all measuring the same thing.

The graphic is based on ChartMasters data, but ChartMasters’ EAS figures should not automatically be treated as physical album sales or compared directly with Hanteo’s Initial Chodong numbers.

ChartMasters uses its CSPC (Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept) methodology, which combines different forms of music consumption and converts them into EAS (Equivalent Album Sales). Depending on the release, this can include physical and digital album sales, digital singles and streaming. Its current streaming conversion is 1,500 audio streams = 1 album unit and 6,750 video views = 1 album unit.

So before calling these “first-week sales,” we need to be clear about what each number actually represents.

Michael Jackson — Dangerous: 9M

This is one of the clearest examples of why the graphic is misleading.

ChartMasters currently estimates Dangerous at 29.99M pure album sales and 49.47M total EAS. The 9M shown in the graphic is therefore not ChartMasters’ current total EAS figure.

The 9M figure is a historical first-week figure that has been widely reported. But Dangerous was released in 1991, when the global market was not tracked in the same way it is today. Historical shipment and retail figures also cannot simply be treated as equivalent to the modern global first-week metrics used for K-pop releases.

So presenting 9M alongside modern EAS figures as if they were the same metric is misleading.

Michael Jackson — Bad: 7M

The same issue applies to Bad.

ChartMasters currently lists Bad at 34.31M pure album sales and 69.67M total EAS. The 7M in the graphic is not its current ChartMasters EAS figure.

Again, 7M is a historical first-week figure that has been repeatedly reported, but it comes from a completely different sales-tracking environment.

That doesn't mean the historical figure is meaningless. It means it shouldn't be presented as directly equivalent to a modern worldwide EAS figure.

SEVENTEEN — Seventeenth Heaven: 5.9M

This one is different because ChartMasters actually has an EAS figure in this range for Seventeenth Heaven.

Its current database gives the album around 6.14M studio-album EAS, with additional EAS bringing the total to 7.09M. The figure can change as ChartMasters updates its database.

The 5.9M in the graphic therefore appears to be an older ChartMasters EAS figure, not SEVENTEEN's official first-week physical sales.

Hanteo's official Initial Chodong figure for Seventeenth Heaven is 5,091,887 copies.

So we're looking at two different numbers:

5.09M = official Hanteo first-week album sales

5.9M = older ChartMasters EAS estimate

Those numbers cannot be treated as interchangeable.

Adele — 25: 5.7M

This one is much easier to trace.

ChartMasters lists 25 at 30.25M total EAS and separately identifies 5.7M equivalent units during its release week.

So the 5.7M figure is not 5.7M physical albums sold. It refers to equivalent album units.

Guinness also records 5.7M global equivalent album units for 25 during its release week.

This is an important distinction because the graphic simply labels the number as “first week sales,” which makes it sound like a pure sales figure.

BTS — ARIRANG: 5.6M

The same metric issue appears here.

ChartMasters currently lists ARIRANG at around 5.43M studio-album EAS, with 6.95M total EAS when the other components are included.

So the 5.6M shown in the graphic is essentially a ChartMasters EAS figure, not Hanteo's first-week physical sales.

Hanteo's official Initial Chodong figure is 4,169,464 copies.

Again:

4.17M = Hanteo first-week physical album sales

~5.6M = ChartMasters EAS

Both numbers can exist without either one being “fake.” They are simply measuring different things.

[an @leesalute]

diet pepsi, #vernon

[kwonspiracy @imFatima___]

vernon's reaction is exactly how i feel discovering what fanservice looked like in 2015-16 😭
why did nobody stop this 💀

[stella☆ ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧ csd 📌 @napibangi]

VERNON?!

[V8🍒 @Ggyudaddy]

@rainybeoms Paved the way for mental illness and racism

[Bling ⁵ .ೃ - B.A.P is back ➣ @bling_05]

older gen kpop fans knows exactly what vernon is saying bc we saw the change happening right in front of our eyes.

now im stuck with this nostalgia of musical elements that i don’t see anymore. kpop will always consist of these powerhouses to me

[V8🍒 @Ggyudaddy]

@selfcrucifxion LMAOO

[Twinkwanhui✩࿐ @24H_13]

...18th August 2026 😞

[mei ✧⁠*⁠。 @mnwnholics]

found it hehehe 😭😭

crdts po sa owner 🫶🏻

[bella @gyustarlit]

i’m convinced they share the same brain cell

[:) @sounds_of_cheol]

SCOUPS STOP STOP IT CHALLENGE!

[쿱정원 @wonubliss]

come back safely and we love you too, vernon!

[Kathrina @vindicatedtruth]

Of course it’s an artist like SEVENTEEN who can pay proper tribute to THE queen of Kpop herself: BoA