4minute is one of K-pop's longer running girl groups having been together for five years now, but it's not until this past year that they've started charting No. 1 hits. They first achieved the feat last April with "What's Your Name?," and the girls finally strike gold again this week as their latest single, "Whatcha Doin' Today," debuts at No. 1 on the official Gaon chart.
It was a close race to the top, with only the tiniest difference between 4minute and Lim Chang-Jung's "Ordinary Song," which debuts at No. 2.
2NE1's "Come Back Home" falls to No. 3, while Soyou and JungGigo's mega-hit "Some" slips to No. 5.
Orange Caramel stays strong at No. 6 for a second week in a row, while Busker Busker's two-year-old hit, "Cherry Blossom Ending," continues its rise back up the charts by climbing to No. 10.
AOA's "Miniskirt" is still in the top thirty after two and a half months, this week sitting at No. 28.
Ga-In's new single, "A Tempo," enters at No. 22, while rookie boy band TROY rocket 75 spots to No. 32 with "Green Light."
The most interesting entry on the charts this week belongs to Lee Michelle, who crashes and burns at No. 142 with her debut single, "Without You." Michelle first rose to fame on season 1 of reality TV singing contest, K-pop Star, which landed her a record deal with YG Entertainment. She was supposed to debut in YG's then highly-publicized girl group, SuPearls, but after almost two years of training, the group was disbanded and Michelle was dropped. Considering how much controversy the disbandment caused at the time, you'd think her long-awaited solo debut would've been a big hit. "Without You" has since fallen out of Melon's top 100 and the instiz iChart, so the chances of it climbing any higher next week are slim to none.
Anyway, check out this week's key K-pop hits below!
No. 1. 4minute - Whatcha Doin' Today
No. 6. Orange Caramel - Catallena
No. 22. Ga-In - A Tempo
No. 43. TROY - Green Light
No. 142. Lee Michelle - Without You
Music Features
Azealia Banks and the Dangers of the "Angry Black Woman" Trope
After posting cryptic messages on her Instagram story, it's clear that many of Azealia Banks's behaviors were a cry for help.
08.11.2020
Content warning: This article contains depictions of suicidal ideation.
Eight years ago, Azealia Banks was positioned to be the next big thing in hip-hop.
The Harlem rapper's debut single, "212," had spread through the Internet like wildfire. Banks was only 20 years old at the time and had just left her record label, XL Recordings, due to creative conflicts. Despite being strapped for cash and admittedly depressed, Banks released "212" as a free download from her website. The unforgettable hip-house track would reinvigorate her tumultuous music career.
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<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="077cae6060089ab94182fd0ac15c4516"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i3Jv9fNPjgk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">AZEALIA BANKS - 212 FT. LAZY JAY</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Jv9fNPjgk" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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</p><p>By the time Banks' first proper album, <em>Broke with Expensive Taste, </em>came out three years later, the rapper had already become known for <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8455742/azealia-banks-vs-the-world-comprehensive-social-media-feud-history" target="_blank">instigating feuds with fellow musicians</a> and other public figures; <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/story/lana-del-rey-azealia-banks-twitter-feud-drama-timeline/" target="_blank">Lana Del Rey</a>, <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/lily-allen-60-1233271" target="_blank">Lily Allen</a>, <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/azealia-banks-nicki-minaj-feud-over-apologises-2145939" target="_blank">Nicki Minaj</a>, and plenty others have been subject to Banks' ruthless Tweets, and that was all before 2014. The music industry was on the brink of welcoming a fresh voice in female rappers, but Banks' peppy flow was inextricably linked with her brutish tongue.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>As Banks's ongoing beefs and controversial opinions continued to unfold, hip-hop fans ultimately left her in the dust. In the years following <em>Broke with Expensive Taste, </em>she was deemed "problematic" and "crazy," with listeners blaming her for her own career decline. One of many disparaging comments on the "212" music video reads: "She could [have] been so big, ruined herself with her mouth." Another comment calls Banks "a waste of talent."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-634"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent11 - mid_content --></p><p>And it seems those constant put-downs have, as expected, gone to Banks's head. Recently, the rapper took to her Instagram story to share an alarming message.</p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- Popdust Mobile Banner 320x100 --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:320px;height:100px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-4301469008561137" data-ad-slot="6952751205"></ins><script>
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</script></center><p></p><p>"Yea, I think I'm done here," Banks wrote. "This pandemic, extreme lack of social interactions, no intimacy, combined with constant public ridicule is making life harder than [it's] worth. I think I will end my tenure here on earth soon. I will try my best to finish the projects I promised I would beforehand. With whatever strength is left."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><div id="7767b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1742903579c21a9475e86d75e83dd319"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1292339717778763776" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">TW // mental health
Azealia Banks posts alarming series of Instagram stories; says she will “end her tenure here o… https://t.co/VogBz97Vpt</div> — Pop Base (@Pop Base)<a href="https://twitter.com/PopBase/statuses/1292339717778763776">1596952773.0</a></blockquote></div><p>She continued: "I'm not begging for attention or asking for sympathy/empathy….I'm just ready to go. Peacefully of course. I will document my last times and release a film for you all to finally understand me, from my perspective. My soul is tired. I'm ready to go."<br></p><p>Though Banks hasn't openly discussed any diagnosis of mood disorders, she's alluded to her own struggles with mental health in social media posts that the masses have seemed to forget about. In a 2016 Facebook post (before Facebook removed her account), <a href="https://www.popdust.com/r/entryeditor/2646952557#social_scheduling" target="_blank">B</a><a href="https://madamenoire.com/745744/people-have-no-idea-azealia-banks-talks-mental-health-in-old-facebook-post/" target="_blank">anks mentioned her frustrations with the general public's handling of her behavior,</a> <a href="https://madamenoire.com/745744/people-have-no-idea-azealia-banks-talks-mental-health-in-old-facebook-post/" target="_blank"> saying people "refuse to pay attention" when she tried to share her "personal struggles with mental illness."</a> <strong>Banks has given clear indications that she's been unwell for years, only to be written off as an "<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2019/05/31/overcoming-the-angry-black-woman-stereotype/#2445c2931fce" target="_blank">angry Black woman</a>."</strong> </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>Meanwhile, Banks's notoriously sad male peers—such as Kanye West and Kid Cudi—have broadcasted their mental health struggles with little to no repercussions. As writer Morgan Jerkins <a href="https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1466-op-ed-azealia-banks-and-the-double-standard-of-mental-illness/" target="_blank">pointed out</a> in a 2017 op-ed for <em>Pitchfork, </em>Kanye and Cudi have largely been met with empathy over the same behaviors Banks is constantly labeled "crazy" for. When <a href="https://people.com/music/kid-cudi-turn-my-pain-into-music-well-beings-town-hall/" target="_blank">Cudi shares details of his experience with depression</a>, or when <a href="https://people.com/music/kid-cudi-turn-my-pain-into-music-well-beings-town-hall/" target="_blank">Kanye admits using antidepressants</a>, it's "powerful." When Banks does the same thing, her cries for help are muddled by her feuds.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script></center><p></p><p>It's a double-standard that Banks has pointed out herself: "I'll say something on Twitter and my head gets ripped off," <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8nKlQ9IomQ" target="_blank">she said in a 2016 interview</a>. "And then Kanye West will say some other f*cking meaningless, senseless dumb sh*t. And then it's like oh well, you know… he's just an artsy man. He's just f*cking cool. It's frustrating."</p><p>This isn't to say Banks should be automatically excused for her hurtful actions in the past, like <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/2946191/azealia-banks-apology-letter-zayn/" target="_blank">the time she called ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik—who is English-Pakistani—a "hairy curry scented b*tch."</a><strong> But Black women are almost never met with the same level of empathy as their male contemporaries. </strong>For instance, despite an unfortunate trend of young male rappers dying from gun violence, <a href="https://www.popdust.com/megan-thee-stallion-shooting-reaction-2646844030.html" target="_self">Megan Thee Stallion's recent shooting was met with an influx of Internet memes</a>, as was the murder of Breonna Taylor by police.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p>Society as a whole has constantly let Black women down, Banks among them, and her desires to end her "tenure on earth" should clearly illustrate how exhausting and unfair it often is to be one. And no matter what terrible things a person has said, when they spend years giving obvious indicators that they're not OK, they don't deserve to feel suicidal. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p>Yes, Banks should be held accountable for her actions, but if we can label countless dead male artists as "tormented geniuses," why can't we offer a living Black woman that same compassion?</p><p><em>National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255</em></p>
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Former Wonder Girl Sunmi scores her second solo hit this week, debuting at an impressive No. 2 with her new single "Full Moon."
It's Sunmi's second time at No. 2; her first was her debut single "24 Hours," which narrowly missed out on the top spot last year.
Vote For Sunmi In Popdust's Pop-Off!
Sitting at No. 1 for another week is SISTAR's Soyou with her Junggigo duet, "Some," which has been so successful that it's already picked up six wins on Korea's main music programs.
Veteran K-diva Park Ji Yoon debuts at No. 12 with "Beep," while her other new single, "Inner Space," enters at the much lower 122.
As we predicted last week, Ladies' Code's "So Wonderful" has raced up the charts, shooting 19 spots to No. 14. It's now the second-highest charting song of the group's career, just behind "Hate You" which briefly peaked at No. 13.
AOA's "Miniskirt" and Girl's Day's "Something" both continue to show crazy longevity on the charts, sitting at No. 16 and No. 17 respectively, while Ga-In's "Truth Or Dare" falls to No. 20.
STELLAR stays on the move with their controversial new single "Marionette," which gives the girl group their first ever top forty hit this week by raising seven spots to No. 35.
Meanwhile, T-ara's special collaboration single with Cho Young-soo, "First Love," debuts at a disappointing No. 47, but could possibly rise a bit next week. After School's own special collaboration single, "Week" with Brave Brothers, enters one spot lower at No. 48.
Check out this week's key new K-pop hits below!
No. 2. Sunmi - Full Moon
No. 12. Park Ji Yoon - Beep
No. 14. Ladies' Code - So Wonderful
No. 35. STELLAR - Marionette
