“Isn’t it obvious HYBE did it to diminish RIIZE impact?”
For a couple of months now since they debuted, TWS has been scrutinized for their shocking leap on Korean music charts with “Plot Twist” despite allegedly being barely known, hardly discussed on social media, and getting low views on most of their content. However, not everyone believes the group has committed Sajaegi (chart manipulation), and many think that “Plot Twist” just went viral enough on certain platforms that they were able to reach such high rankings on Korean music charts, and that the interest from the general public has been enough to have the rookie group succeed at so much, so quickly.
But some netizens keep finding “evidence” that TWS’s label HYBE Labels has taken part in chart manipulation. For example, last week the view counts for some of the group’s videos on YouTube came under scrutiny for being suspiciously low, especially for a “Big Four” group that has a hit supposedly as big as “Plot Twist” has been.
And now, further “proof” has been shared by comparing the MelOn chart rankings of similarly-aged rookie boy group RIIZE to those of TWS.
The songs being compared are RIIZE’s debut song “Get a Guitar” and the aforementioned “Plot Twist” by TWS. Below, you can see the daily ranking, number of unique listeners, and change in listeners for “Get a Guitar” on the left, and “Plot Twist” on the right.
While “Get a Guitar” entered the MelOn charts at #94 and took five weeks before they reached the 10s, “Plot Twist” debuted at #268 but took only took two weeks to reach the 10s.
Additionally, though some fans argued that TWS’s “Plot Twist” ranked so high so quickly due to it going viral on places such as YouTube shorts and Instagram reels, it turns out that “Get a Guitar” videos had much higher views on these platforms.
Here’s how people are reacting to this new data, and whether it supports the accusations of Sajaegi.
Does this change or reaffirm how you feel about the situation?
