bruise pristine⁷

hollywood babbles on.

[Red Media @RedMedia_us]

Spotify has been exposed for lying about Drake's "Make Them Cry" being the most streamed song in a single day on their platform in 2026 so far.

The results today showed BTS "Swim" still holds the said record with over 14 million streams.

[colin @colin_goldmund]

BTS Through the Eyes of Korean Middle-Aged Men

Yesterday after work, I met up with my old Seoul National University friends for the first time in a long while. We are all middle-aged professionals. Two are married with children, and two of us are still single. Over soju, makgeolli, and endless anju, we spent the whole night talking about family, kids, work, and aging.

Then, unexpectedly, the conversation turned to BTS.

One of the friends is a lawyer. During SUGA’s incident two years ago, he helped me understand what was happening legally and what would likely happen next, which I later relayed to my ARMY friends who were anxious and confused.

Anyway, my lawyer friend suddenly brought up the footage of the enormous crowd gathered outside the Mexican Presidential Palace when BTS visited the president. He said that, in his life, he had only ever seen crowds like that for the Pope. The others had seen the clips too, and they were all amazed by it.

I am the only ARMY among us, but one friend casually listens to BTS songs, another has a wife who is a dedicated ARMY and attends every concert in Korea, and the last one mostly knows BTS through television and social media.

We talked about how much pride BTS has brought to Korea. And because we are all politically liberal, we also talked about how meaningful it feels to see BTS openly support values we believe in. They supported former Democratic president Moon Jae-in, went to the United Nations to speak about mental health, and have donated enormous amounts of money and time to good causes over the years. They also all fulfilled their mandatory military service honorably and with distinction.

I also brought up the recent backlash questioning BTS’s masculinity, and my friends could not understand it at all. They never viewed BTS as anything other than masculine men. We admire men who are hardworking, responsible, emotionally grounded, respectful toward others, and empathetic. BTS embodies those qualities. What is more masculine than that?

The same feeling exists in the Korean online community that I belong to. Most of the members are middle-aged professional men, and BTS is held in very high regard there too. And throughout the years, across more than a hundred posts about BTS, I have never seen anyone question their masculinity, humanity, or worth. Some of posts about BTS received over 5,000 views and over 100 comments, yet not once did I come across a negative comment about BTS.

Quite the opposite, actually. Some even jokingly call RM “hyung” because of how thoughtful and mature he comes across in his writing, speeches, and actions.

I can say this clearly: We middle-aged Korean men view BTS very positively and see them as unquestionably masculine. We see them as a source of national pride and as strong role models for younger generations.

[bruise pristine⁷ @turnblisterblue]

@SeatGeek Will there be any more tickets for Arlington dropping or are you completely sold out?

[.tya @gcftjkk]

so so obsessed I can't stop replaying �

[𓆞 @revesbleus]

FINALLY THE HQ FRONT VIEW OF TAEHYUNG HITTING THIS STEP IN FYA. GAG IT !

[First We Feast @firstwefeast]

the countdown begins 👀

[Yoong⟬⟭na⊙⊝⊜🎀🐱⁷ @Yoonginapuppy2]

#1🎉
Pitchfork, BBC, NYT, WHOLE K-media, Naver, kpoper, K-netz, "BIG 3", Bruno Mars, below average asian men with a "journalist" title, tiktok "influencers", MHJ, NWJS, Blinks:

[lala⁷ ⊙⊝⊜ @fkubluehouse]

today might just be the biggest “you just had to be there” moment in history

[Tania S. M. ⁷ ARIRANG @TaNia_M_S_]

@a1071364 @maumeesori I just want to put this out there. No offense but our competition goes far beyond kpop groups now..

[Aespann_jeans @a1071364]

BTS flopped?

The way people keep acting like BTS is over is ridiculous, so let’s talk numbers and the reality of other groups. This might look like I’m dragging everyone, and yeah, I might catch heat for it, but I’d rather say what needs to be said. I’ll take the heat. And for the record, every group I mention has fandoms that have tried to drag BTS on my timeline, so spare me the fake outrage. This is the same basic comparison y’all make every day anyway, so if you want to come at me, at least come with numbers. No whining.

Bottom line up front: BTS is at their peak in every single metric. Career highs across the board. Nobody else is even in the same league.

For singles and chart comparisons, I’m limiting it to BLACKPINK. Stray Kids and SEVENTEEN don’t have a significant edge over BLACKPINK in any meaningful way — they might edge ahead on a few individual numbers, but that’s the ceiling. BLACKPINK is the only comparison here that even makes sense. The rest of the groups are covered separately below.

Melon Daily Peak
BLACKPINK GO : #13
BTS Swim (ARIRANG) : #1
BTS Yet To Come (Proof) : #1

Billboard Hot 100
BLACKPINK GO : #63
BTS Swim (ARIRANG) : #1 (projected)
BTS Yet To Come (Proof) : #13

UK Official Singles
BLACKPINK GO : #44
BTS Swim (ARIRANG) : #2
BTS Yet To Come (Proof) : #27

Billboard 200
BLACKPINK DEADLINE : #8 (52K units)
BTS ARIRANG : #1 (projected, 641K units)
BTS Proof : #1 (314K units)

UK Official Albums
BLACKPINK DEADLINE : #11
BTS ARIRANG : #1 (3rd UK No.1)
BTS Proof : #8

Spotify First Week Streams (full album)
BLACKPINK DEADLINE : 63.2M
BTS ARIRANG : 545.4M
BTS Proof : ~222M

Album Sales & Revenue (standard retail price)
BTS ARIRANG : 4,169,400 copies / ₩114.6B (vs. ON: +790K copies / +₩34.2B)
Stray Kids Do It (Nov 21, 2025) : 2,207,660 copies / ₩48.5B*
BLACKPINK DEADLINE (Feb 27, 2026) : 1,774,500 copies / ₩36.8B

*Stray Kids figures are based on the most expensive version because there’s no per-version sales breakdown. Factoring in cheaper versions, actual revenue is estimated at ₩35B–₩40B.

iTunes Worldwide #1 Countries
BLACKPINK DEADLINE : 32 countries
BTS ARIRANG : 101 countries

Tour Attendance
BLACKPINK : ~1.63M (estimated)
BTS : 5M+ (projected minimum)

I’m only including groups whose fandoms are constantly dragging BTS. Groups like TWICE that don’t really do that aren’t mentioned. Don’t take it too personally — manage your fandoms first.

SEVENTEEN North America Tour (9 shows) : Revenue $16.43M / 78.17% sold (85,237 tickets)
aespa North America Tour (9 shows) : Revenue $11.84M / 97,070 tickets

aespa moved more tickets than SEVENTEEN and still made significantly less money. Why their average ticket price is that low needs separate analysis — whether that’s because of complimentary tickets or something else.

NewJeans : effectively down 1.5 members
IVE : No sellouts reported in any announced world tour city. The Philippines stop in particular appears to be under 50% sold with seats still visible — a brutal result. They sold out there last year, so the drop-off this year has been steep.
SM boy groups / BIGBANG : Not worth mentioning.
ENHYPEN : 1 member out.

By the numbers, nobody besides BTS is even close.

You’re calling BTS “finished” because they’ve had fewer Melon daily #1 — while they’re hitting career highs in literally every other metric. What exactly is that argument based on?

If Melon #1 carries that much weight for you, then explain why aespa spent 99 days at #1 on Melon daily and their North American revenue still looks like that. And IVE — who’ve been charting on Melon — have been sitting on Philippines tickets for months and still can’t even hit 50% for a venue LE SSERAFIM sold out in a week. Girl groups already have a structural advantage on Korean streaming charts to begin with, and BLACKPINK GO still didn’t manage a single #1.

If you want to argue BTS has flopped, stop saying “it just feels like it~~” and come back with actual numbers.

[⁷ @Pk_bts_land]

"BTS and JUNGKOOK are the only Kpop Acts in history to get a BAK (Billboard All Kill)"

[BTS Data Archive @btsdatarchive]

BTS Global All Kill! Welcome Back!

#1. Billboard Hot 100 🆕
#1. Apple Music Global
#1. Spotify Global
#1. Melon Top 100/Daily Chart
#1. YouTube Music
#1. Line Music Japan
#1. Hanteo (3.9M sales)
#1. Billboard 200 (641k units)
#1. Oricon Japan (541k)

[Pop Base @PopBase]

BTS becomes the first artist in history to occupy the entire Top 10 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.

[billboard charts @billboardcharts]

This week's top 10 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart (dated April 4, 2026).

Details: https://t.co/6sdhxxAKxO

[chart data @chartdata]

BTS becomes the first artist in history to simultaneously occupy the entire top 10 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. singles chart.

They hold the entire top 13.

[billboard charts @billboardcharts]

This week's top 10 on the #Hot100 (chart dated April 4, 2026).

Details: https://t.co/LcQPZUtjyF

[billboard charts @billboardcharts]

.@BTS_twt has debuted six songs at No. 1 on the #Hot100 — extending their record for the most among duos/groups.

[billboard charts @billboardcharts]

BTS Earns 7th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘ARIRANG’ https://t.co/VmJBrRgB75

[Netflix @netflix]

Let the countdown begin 🎤 BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG. March 21 8pm KST / 4am PT. LIVE worldwide exclusively on Netflix.

#BTSLiveonNetflix #BTS_ARIRANG

[avery 🗡️ ieroween @gorebugs]

super bowl boring as hell