A Viral Video Propels "Rollin'," A Four-year Old Song By Nearly Forgotten K-pop Group Brave Girls, To #1

Those who follow K-pop probably have some sense of how nearly all aspects of the artists involved—from the group members to the stylings to the song choices to even the livestreams—are highly calculated in order to maximize profits for their company. Generally, things don't go viral in K-pop unless they're designed to go viral, which is why it's remarkable that Brave Girls, a relatively older and nearly forgotten girl group under Brave Entertainment, hit number 1 thanks purely to a viral YouTube compilation video showing the group performing their 2017 song "Rollin'" for the Korean military.

The video posted by 비디터ᴠɪᴅɪᴛᴏʀ, a channel with a decently-sized but by no means massive following, unexpectedly took the internet by storm, gaining over 11 million views in the three weeks since it was published. Viewers were charmed by the zealous reaction from the military members in the audience, who spend most of the video hollering lyrics and mirroring dance moves. The video also comes with comments from ex-military members who detailed how the song would be passed to them from their seniors, along with jokes about how the song could be the key to the reunification of Korea.

The video alone brought Brave Girls from the brink of disbandment to the top of the K-pop charts in less than a month. Brave Girls had seen moderate success upon their debut in 2011 but struggled to crack the top 20 with earlier singles such as "Do You Know" and "Nowadays, You." The group underwent several member changes over the course of the last decade, to the point where none of the original members still perform as Brave Girls. Their most recent song, August 2020's "We Ride," peaked at number 291. Prior to "Rollin'" going viral, member Yujeong had said she'd already prepared to move out of the group's dorm.

The success of the 비디터ᴠɪᴅɪᴛᴏʀ video caused the group to resume promotional activities for the song, and in early March, they hit #1, overtaking new songs from industry titans such as IU, Sunmi, Shinee, and the solo debut from Blackpink's Rosé. Last week, they achieved their first win on Korean music show Inkigayo, setting the record for the longest time between a group's debut and their first win. They also won at music shows Mcountdown, The Show, Show Champion and Music Bank.

"Brave Girls went from 0 to 100 real quick," wrote YouTube commenter Sabai Lawn. "The career turnaround for Brave Girls within 1 month is insane. This is Kpop history."