BTS's fifth studio album, ARIRANG, has recently surpαѕѕed 4 billion cumulative streams on Spotify just 137 days after its release, breaking the previous record of 147 days set by The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift. Among groups and Asian artists, it is now the fastest album in history to reach the milestone. With this achievement, BTS now has eight albums that have exceeded 4 billion streams, joining the exclusive list of artists to reach the mark in under 140 days alongside Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo. ARIRANG is also the only album released in 2026 to achieve this feat.
Since its release in March this year, ARIRANG has made history by holding the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks. The album also marked the seventh time BTS topped the chart, making them the fifth artist in Billboard's more than 60-year history to earn the most No. 1 chart-topping songs. Meanwhile, BTS's newly released tracks accounted for 13% of the Billboard Hot 100 upon release, setting a new record for the highest number of songs from a single album by a K-pop artist to chart on the Hot 100.
These accomplishments clearly reflect the overwhelming love and enthusiastic reception for BTS's new music following the group's three-year hiatus due to mandatory military service. Not only have fans shown unwavering support, but idols and global artists have also responded enthusiastically. Some have even used BTS's music on their personal social media accounts, including ITZY's Chaeryeong.
In a recent Instagram post documenting her daily life, Chaeryeong used "Into the Sun" from ARIRANG as the background music and added a small sun emoji in the caption. The post quickly caught fans' attention thanks to the inclusion of the trending track and the idols behind it, including RM and j-hope. The two BTS rappers even liked her post.
However, what raised concern was that many netizens left critical and rude comments under the post regarding her choice of background music. Some of the negative comments included: "Destroying my ears to protect us from melting at your beauty", "Does people really heard this? The effects are used so bad, idk anyone could look at me with a straight face and say that song is listenable", "Please not this song", "The worst song I've ever heard", "Song choice is нσяяιвℓє",...
This intense reaction gained traction not only on Instagram but also sparked discussions across кσяєαn online forums. A post about the incident on TheQoo quickly went viral, garnering over 25,000 views along with numerous speculative comments from кσяєαn netizens about why Chaeryeong became the target of criticism: "Is it because it’s a different agency that’s competing", "It’s just an everyday incident in fandom power struggles", "People are going to her Instagram to attack her just because she used the song?", "Why are they like this?",...
As the controversy escalated, ARMYs refused to stay silent and quickly stepped in to defend the female idol. They expressed appreciation for Chaeryeong showing support for BTS’s new song and emphasized that BTS has always respected their peers. ARMYs also pointed out that toxic individuals often target BTS and their fandom out of baseless hate and jealousy, especially when the group receives support from other artists.
ARMYs then flooded Chaeryeong’s post with positive comments to drown out the negativity, while also sharing messages defending her:
- diva !!! outfit is so cute. loving the song choice !!! do not let these ppl in your comments ρσℓι¢є your taste in music
- into the sun one of my favs, you got a TASTE. a bts song and a pretty girl YESSS
- You can't bear seeing idols supporting each other peacefully, nah? Just came to leave a hate comment and start a fan war anyhow
- stay away from chaeryeong actually! and refrain from giving your absolutely useless opinion on what this woman chooses to listen to!
- K-pop fans are really tasteless. When I first heard this song, I got a Fran Ocean vibe and it was amazing. One of my favorites from the album! If you don't like it, just move on. Why are you so jealous? Sweet girls love BTS. Go Chae
- For those in the comments..if you don't like the song just keep it to yourself bruh if chaeryeong likes it let it be. Don't bring hate in her comment section omg
- not the kpoopies being jealousy with her song taste
- People who listen to flop artists and flop songs judging "Into the Sun"...FUNNY
- Well clearly she has better music taste than u . Besides there is soмєтнing called choice she can post whatever tf she wants
- Why do fans make bad comments on their idol's posts? OMG, I hope this girl continues to shine in her career and is kept away from crazy fans who have a problem with the sound of the music she posts.
