According to fans, some of these groups could have easily disbanded if things had gone slightly differently.
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In the K-Pop world, the competition of things is fierce, and the success (or lack of achievement) of an artist usually depends on an event or a song. The following 6 groups selected by fans on Reddit were all hit hard at their debut. If the situation is different, they can easily disband. However, all these K-Pop artists were able to overcome the challenges and finally succeeded!
1. BTS
Considering that they have achieved great success now, this may be unbelievable, but BTS did struggle at the beginning of their career. Their first song "No More Dream" did not attract much attention in the K-Pop industry, and their first few songs just after the release did not attract much attention.
Coming from a small, pretty unknown company (Big Hit Entertainment) without much funding, BTS could have easily disbanded before they became popular. In fact, they almost did! With the release of “I Need U”, the group planned on likely disbanding if the song didn’t do well.
However, “I Need U” ended up earning them their first music show win, and that was when their success began. Their popularity continued to grow from there, and now, of course, they’re the most well-known K-Pop group in the world! Not bad for a group of seven talented guys from a small, almost-broke company.
>>> See more: BTS Release 1st Comeback Teaser For 'Life Goes On'
2. GFRIEND
Similarly, it may be difficult to believe this now, but GFRIEND was on the verge of disbanding. When they first appeared on stage, they were not completely ignored, but neither of them took off. On the one hand, they actually have so little money that the CEO of the company has to sell the house to survive.
In a sort of strange turn of events, it was actually an unfortunate performance that first got them more attention from the public. During a performance of “Me Gustas Tu”, the stage they were performing on was extremely wet and slippery from rain, and several of the members ended up falling multiple times during the performance.
However, their determination and dedication to continue the performance brought them new fans as the video went viral. The following year, they won their first music show award for “Rough”, and ended up winning 14 total awards for the song! Now, of course, they’re doing very well for themselves.
3. ATEEZ
Though ATEEZ still isn’t a huge group yet, they have become very successful in the two years that they’ve been active since debut. However, their future success wasn’t obvious at first.
They debuted under KQ Entertainment, who was relatively unknown at that time. It’s often difficult for an artist from a small and unknown company to become really successful, so ATEEZ had an uphill climb from the beginning. Their first album that was released also didn’t make many sales, which was likely very disheartening.
Their popularity slowly grew, however, especially from international fans, and they made their first win in less than a year with “Wave”. They’ve been highly praised for the performance skills, and their most recent comeback album, ZERO: FEVER Pt.1, has made around 400k sales! Fans expect their success to continue to grow in the future.
4. (G)I-DLE
At the time that (G)I-DLE debuted under Cube Entertainment, the company was short on money from promoting CLC and PENTAGON, and thus their debut, “LATATA”, was relatively low-budget. It was a bit of a risk, and their debut album made very few sales in the first week.
However, once the group started promoting “LATATA” on music shows, they gained attention quickly. Thanks to their great performance abilities as well as the popularity that Soyeon had received as a trainee, they quickly became one of the leading groups of the 4th generation of K-Pop.
They were able to find a pretty solid niche for themselves, and became even more greatly recognized after their epic performance on Queendom!
5. SEVENTEEN
Similar to (G)I-DLE, SEVENTEEN’s company Pledis Entertainment was short of funds, but actually almost went bankrupt when it went public. Therefore, these members were unable to conduct a lot of training before their debut. In the long run, it actually worked well for them because they are now known for their outstanding self-production and self-management.
Despite the things working against them, their debut, while delayed for a while, was pretty well-received. “Adore U” was unique enough at the time that it came out that it stood out among the other boy group songs they were promoting against.
Unlike some groups, SEVENTEEN was one that became more popular gradually over time, though they have had some immediately more popular hits such as “Very Nice” and “Don’t Wanna Cry”. They’re now renowned for being one of the most (if not the most) synchronized group in the industry, and their status as a self-producing team is definitely very highly praised!
6. Girls’ Generation
Believe it or not, the second-generation K-Pop "nation's girl group" didn't start like this. In fact, they were hated by the public even before they first showed up. There are many rumors as to why this is so, although there is no real conclusive conclusion about why.
Only a year after they debuted, Girls’ Generation took part in a multi-group concert called the Dream Concert in 2008, and they were treated terribly by fans. This was when the infamous “black ocean” happened — when before, the stadium had been full of light from the fans’ light sticks for other performances, most of the stadium went black as fans turned them off as a way to show their dislike for Girls’ Generation.
Fortunately, despite this disheartening incident, the following year was when the girl group came out with “Gee”, which exploded in popularity among K-Pop fans. Where before, they’d been scorned, now they rose to the top of the second generation of K-Pop to become one of the most successful girl groups of all time!
