(Photo courtesy of CUBE ENTERTAINMENT)

[Hanteo News = Reporter JUNG JUNHWA] On the morning of the 10th day after its release, the ranking changed. ‘I’m Quitting (Narr. Kian84),’ the title track of JEON SOYEON’s 1st full-length solo album ‘A Killer Life,’ rose to No. 1 on Melon’s TOP100 chart at 8 AM on the 17th.

 

The song, which started in the 50s immediately after its release on the 7th, climbed through No. 13 on the 14th and No. 6 on the 15th before reaching the top in 10 days. It held No. 1 for three hours until 10 AM, then dropped to No. 2 on the 11 AM chart. The fact that it climbed the final step right during the morning commute sums up the path this song has taken.

 

Melon TOP100 reflects both usage over the past 24 hours and usage over the past hour, but from 1 AM to 7 AM, when there are fewer users, it is published based 100% on 24-hour usage. The 8 AM chart is the first moment of the day when listening from the “previous hour” is reflected again. ‘I’m Quitting,’ which ranked No. 3 from midnight to 5 AM and No. 2 at 6 AM and 7 AM, pushed RESCENE’s ‘LOVE ATTACK’ out of the top spot on the 8 AM chart. In other words, one hour of streaming on the morning commute created the No. 1.

The way the song first became known to the world was far from ordinary. On the night of the 26th of last month, JEON SOYEON posted a photo of herself holding out her hand with CUBE ENTERTAINMENT’s office building in the background, along with the phrase “I’m quitting.” Since rumors of conflict had previously spread in 2024 ahead of her contract renewal, after she performed lyrics on a concert stage that mentioned the timing of her contract’s end, rumors of parting ways and taking aim at the company quickly spread across online communities. The tracklist released the next day appeared as a resignation letter form on an old CRT monitor screen, and in the reason section, it said, “I wish to resign in order to begin ‘A Killer Life,’ which can no longer be delayed.”

 

In some communities, there was also criticism that the pattern of creating controversy first and then refuting it was being repeated, in the sense that fans’ anxiety was used as leverage. JEON SOYEON directly confronted the misunderstanding on EBS’ ‘Space Gonggam,’ which aired on the 2nd, saying, “I want to keep doing this even when I become a grandmother, and I absolutely do not want to quit.”

 

After the release, the driving force behind the song’s spread came from outside the fandom. More than 5,000 comments were posted on the music video within two days of its release, and the comment section became a space for communication as personal stories followed, such as “I cried my eyes out in the car on my way home from work at dawn” and “I dream of the day I listen to this song on the day I quit my job.”

 

At the time of the release, JEON SOYEON said, “A stable future is important, but I wanted to say that I hope people are happy in this moment.” As for why she entrusted the narration to Kian84, she said it was because he is “the person who lives the most romantically among the people I know.”

 

On short-form platforms, a challenge began that crossed generations and genres. SEO IN GUK, LEE YOUNGJI, RIIZE’s SOHEE, and ILLIT’s IROHA joined the dance challenge, while RESCENE’s MINAMI and YouTuber NIDA joined through a singing challenge. Actress SUNWOO YONGYEO, who made a surprise appearance in the music video, also took part in the challenge. Brand accounts also joined in, with a recruitment platform leaving a comment through its official account saying, “That’s right, SOYEON. Hurry up and quit, then switch jobs.”

 

As a result, the song ranked No. 1 on Korea’s daily YouTube Shorts popular songs chart, No. 1 on the daily popular music video chart, and No. 5 on Instagram Reels’ trending audio chart. As more ordinary users uploaded videos using the song over real moments of quitting their jobs, the song became a meme.

 

The most controversial phase was the similarity issue raised immediately after the release. Some pointed out that the intro resembled ‘Please Take Good Care of Me’ by the band Ex, the grand prize-winning song at the 2005 MBC College Music Festival. On MBC’s ‘Radio Star’ on the 9th, JEON SOYEON said, “I wanted to pay homage to the distinctive feel of ‘Please Take Good Care of Me,’ so I personally contacted LEE SANGMI sunbaenim and asked for permission.” The next day, a challenge video filmed with LEE SANGMI, formerly of Ex, was released.

 

When suspicions arose that the filming had taken place after the controversy, LEE SANGMI personally clarified on the 11th, saying, “Everyone, please stop speculating,” and “The day we filmed the Reels video was SOYEON’s birthday! We had already filmed it back in August.”

 

The way the homage was revealed belatedly ultimately amplified curiosity and expanded exposure for the new song. A clever strategy led to a kind of “self-viral” effect.

 

The song did not receive strong results only in streaming. According to Hanteo Chart’s tally, ‘A Killer Life’ recorded initial chodong sales of around 75,000 copies in its first week, about twice that of her 1st mini album ‘Windy’ in 2021. The music video surpassed 12 million views in one week after its release. As of 7 AM on the 17th, the song ranked No. 1 on VIBE, No. 3 on FLO, No. 4 on Genie, No. 4 on Bugs, and No. 8 on Spotify, placing within the Top 10 on five of six platforms. For JEON SOYEON personally, it is a career high as a solo artist.

 

Evaluations remain divided over the way controversy was turned into an asset, but there is little disagreement that the force that ultimately brought the song to the top came from the song’s message: “I hope you are happy in this moment.” Unlike the song’s title, it seems JEON SOYEON still has a long way to go before quitting.

joonamana@hanteo.cm