By Park Ji-won While the BTS Army fan club helped the highly popular boy band’s breakthrough, the actual Republic of Korea Army was there to help K-pop girl group Brave Girls rise above the K-pop cluster. Although Brave Girls – a K-pop girl group under Brave Entertainment – debuted in 2011, the quartet have only recently begun to enjoy a sudden rise in popularity thanks to YouTube’s algorithms and a firm military fan base. The four-member girl group have been topping various local music charts such as Bugs and Melon since last week with their song Rollin’, which was released on March 7, 2017. The song didn’t reach the media spotlight on its release and the group never took centre stage in the entertainment industry. But after reaction videos over its performances for soldiers went viral on YouTube – one of the videos uploaded last week exceeding six million views – the group are appearing on major TV and radio shows such as SBS’ Inkigayo , one of the main K-pop music shows. The explosive reaction is largely attributable to the changing consumption patterns of music listeners. Music videos are now available to view any time online, especially through video platforms such as YouTube that know no restrictions in terms of broadcast time, leading to older content making a resurgence. Viewers digging up older releases have also belatedly boosted Exid and Rain in the past . Fan activity also contributes to the popularity, such as derivative videos based on K-pop content such as dance covers and reaction videos. BTS top 2020 global artist chart; K-pop boys beat Taylor Swift and Drake In addition to the algorithm, Brave Girls’ fan popularity among soldiers and reserve forces likely helped the group. The girl band have been appearing in official and unofficial shows for various military units, which is common for K-pop groups, but not the most desirable job because it is not highly paid and requires them to travel great distances. However, the group had been accepting military gigs for years, including playing at an isolated base on Baengnyeong Island, at the military frontline located 190 kilometres northwest of the port city of Incheon. One of the trending videos of the group’s performance in an army base shows hundreds of soldiers happily dancing along with the girl group’s choreography. Thanks to the hard work of the army, Rollin’ has been on the unofficial music chart among soldiers – known as “MillBoard,” a portmanteau of military and Billboard – for years even though the band hasn’t performed the song on a major TV network in years. Many have left comments for the videos of the song claiming they saw the group perform while doing their mandatory service and wishing for it to gain more popularity. One comment read: “Exid’s sudden popularity was a reaction to its sexual content. But the popularity of Brave Girls is something different and moving. “I tried hard but went through difficult times. I am still worried about uncertainties in my life. Brave Girls, who are very talented and have been working for years, would have been also worried about their future because they didn’t find a big break and they got older – and also the coronavirus. But their performances are so full of energy and give encouragement to people.” The commenter added: “It is not luck. They have been working hard for years no matter what. I want to support them because their success is giving hope to many who are talented and have been working hard but never enjoyed great success due to timing.” Read the full story at the Korea Times