BTS Just Broke A Major YouTube Record Formerly Held By Psy

Breaking records comes naturally to BTS, and the Korean pop septet shattered plenty of them with the release of its latest album, Map of the Soul: 7. This week, however, a song from BTS’s robust back catalog smashed a YouTube record that another South Korean pop star previously held for years.

BTS’s 2017 hit “DNA” has usurped Psy’s “Gangnam Style” to become the most commented-on music video in YouTube history, according to Chart Data. The opulent music video has accumulated more than 5.07 million comments, surpassing the 5.04 million comments on “Gangnam Style.”

While YouTube comments aren’t considered as important a metric of popularity as on-demand audio/video streams or Billboard chart placements, BTS’s latest record is hardly a frivolous one. It’s a testament to the group’s nearly unprecedented level of fan engagement, which has been a key element to its international success. That fan engagement translates into album streams, track downloads music video views and social media posts to mobilize around new releases. The same super-fans who are still commenting on a nearly three-year-old video in droves are the ones who propelled Map of the Soul: 7’s lead single “ON” to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 despite minimal radio play.

It’s fitting that “DNA” has broken the record for the most comments on a YouTube music video, as it was a major breakthrough for BTS in the United States. Released as a single off the group’s 2017 EP Love Yourself: Her, it became their first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 67. The music video is a vibrant, CGI-enhanced spectacle that displays the band members’ charisma and excellent dance moves, which they have continued to flaunt in a series of increasingly sophisticated videos.

If it keeps accumulating views at its current pace, “DNA” may soon reach another major milestone: the first BTS music video to hit 1 billion views. It currently sits at 952.7 million; if it passes the billion mark, it will make BTS the first Korean boy band to reach that threshold, and the third Korean act overall behind Psy (“Gangnam Style,” “Gentleman”) and Blackpink (“Ddu-Du Ddu-Du”).

Meanwhile, with 3.57 billion “Gangnam Style” views, Psy can sleep soundly knowing he’s unlikely to relinquish the record for most-viewed Korean music video anytime soon.

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