Fifty Fifty Joins BTS as the Only South Korean Groups With Top 10s on Pop Airplay Chart
Fifty Fifty makes history on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart as “Cupid” rises from No. 13 to No. 10 on the list dated July 15. The group becomes the second from South Korea – and the first all-female group from the country – to reach the survey’s top 10 after BTS, which has notched two top 10s: “Dynamite” hit No. 5 in December 2020 and “Butter” climbed to No. 7 in August 2021.
Before that, among soloists on Pop Airplay, South Korean rapper PSY broke through with the No. 10-peaking “Gangnam Style” in 2012.
The Pop Airplay chart began in October 1992 and reflects airplay, as tabulated by Mediabase and provided to Billboard by Luminate, on over 150 U.S. mainstream top 40 terrestrial and satellite radio stations.
Among the Pop Airplay chart panelists that have played “Cupid” the most to date are Alpha Media-owned KLLY Bakersfield, Calif., and KBFF Portland, Ore.; SiriusXM’s Hits 1 and Venus; and iHeartMedia’s KHKS Dallas.
The song debuted at No. 36 on the May 20-dated Pop Airplay chart, marking Fifty Fifty’s first appearance on the survey, and enters the top 10 in its ninth week on the ranking, reaching the top tier with a 9% gain in weekly plays.
Fifty Fifty formed in 2022 and consists of members Aran, Keena, Saena and Sio.
“Cupid” scored two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart in May and June. (The tally ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories excluding the U.S., as compiled by Luminate.) It has also risen to No. 17, in May, on the U.S.-based multimetric Billboard Hot 100.
Meanwhile, Fifty Fifty’s newest release is “Barbie Dreams” featuring Kaliii. The song, from the soundtrack to the movie Barbie, both due July 21, arrived July 6, and reworks Janet Jackson’s classic “Together Again,” which topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1998.
All charts dated July 15 will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, July 11.
Gary Trust
Billboard