The king is back and he’s doing it big. As speculated last week, Cho Yong Pil (sometimes referred to as the Michael Jackson of Korea) shoots to the No. 1 spot, from No. 47 last week, with “Bounce” off his highly-anticipated 19th album, “Hello” (released April 27). Cho Yong Pil’s legendary status has thwarted PSY’s quest to stay atop the chart for more than a week. But if anyone was going to go head to head with PSY in native South Korea, then it needed to be Cho Yong Pil.
Cho Yong Pil is a living legend on the Korean pop scene. He has maintained his supremacy since the ’80s, releasing multiple LPs and sweeping award shows. His musical endeavors span the gamut between American influenced pop/rock and traditional Korean folk and trot music. A fearless approach to his art over the decades have blasted him to the top of Korean music with tracks like, “Short Hair Girl,” “A Girl Outside The Window,” “Candle Light,” “Dream” and “Killimandjaro’s Leopard” among many others.
Watch a live performance of “Bounce” below:
The official lead single from the album, title track “Hello” featuring chart-topping rapper Verbal Jint, starts at No. 29 this week. The track should see a nice boost on next week’s K-Pop Hot 100 with a full week of sales and promotions.
Though, if it fails to hit No. 1, it would not be the first time a pre-release track outperformed the lead single. Longrunning hip hop group Epik High broke their three-year hiatus with the pre-release single “It’s Cold” featuring Lee Hi which went straight to No. 1. The official single “Up” featuring 2NE1’s Bom made Top 10, but never the top slot. “Bounce” hitting No. 1 may be the result of K-pop fans excited for a major legacy act’s return. Watch the fun music video for “Hello” below:
PSY very well may find himself back atop the K-Pop Hot 100 if the continuous media coverage is as high as it is today. K-pop’s biggest global start has been able to clinch wins on various music programs due to high sales of “Gentleman” and major TV coverage. While “Gangnam Style” was already No. 1 on the K-Pop Hot 100 before its music video took off virally. PSY was hitting all the usual promo spots in South Korea when he first hit No. 1. This past week, he worked in some radio and interview promo slots, but the star has already tweeted he has left home to begin overseas promotions.
Typically, singles intended for other territories haven’t fared extremely well even for the biggest K-pop acts. Wonder Girls’ English single “Like Money” featuring Akon, intended for overseas audiences, only reached No. 14 on the K-Pop Hot 100 despite both their comeback tracks (2011’s “Be My Baby” and 2012’s “Like This”) going No. 1. PSY already held No. 1 but the single could fall way faster than the single that had over three months in the Top 10.
All the while, PSY’s “Gentleman” rises to No. 5 (from No. 12) on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on Rap Songs (from No. 5) and spends another week atop the Rap Streaming Songs at No. 1.
Both Cho Yong Pil and PSY face major competition on next week’s chart, though. Girls’ Generation member Tiffany released a soundtrack single “One Step Closer” begins at No. 46. Her bandmember Tae Yeon earned a No. 1 with her soundtrack single “And One” earlier this year. New singles from Lyn, SHINee, 4minute and TEEN TOP should all make a splash on next week’s chart too.