On both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 charts this week, Taylor Swift’s four-year-old “Cruel Summer” track rules at No. 1 thanks to a viral resurgence. Originally released on the superstar’s 2019 Lover album, the fan-favorite B-side returned to conquer the charts despite seven new projects from Swift since it initially reached listeners. The unpredictability of the music industry and listening habits today, plus artist and label teams being able to see trending movements, is helping further democratize and level out opportunities in the music industry.
Nearly 20 years into their career as hip-hop pioneers in South Korea, Dynamicduo is hitting new peaks and seeing firsthand the power that different viral methods and promotions can lead to success and opportunities for material both classic and contemporary.
Dynamicduo’s “AEAO” was initially released as a collaboration with legendary hip-hop producer DJ Premier in 2014, while the duo’s track “Smoke” was recorded for the soundtrack of the 2023 television dance competition series Street Woman Fighter 2 and features 21-year-old rapstress Lee Young Ji, both of which unexpectedly broke through into the charts around the world.
Both tracks had support from viral dance and lip-sync covers by powerhouse K-pop names like V and Jung Kook of BTS, EXO, SEVENTEEN, Tomorrow X Together, ITZY, ATEEZ, IVE and even expanded beyond K-pop to top stars in Japan (finding fans in GENERATIONS and &TEAM) and in Korean hip-hop (gaining support from Jay Park).
The results have led to “AEAO” being one of TikTok’s Top 10 Song of Summer from South Korea this year, with more than 31.4 million streams on music services (more than double any other DD tracks so far). The resurgent interest in “AEAO” even led to Dynamicduo members Gaeko and Choiza being invited onto Korean television programs like KBS Music Bank and MBC’s Show! Music Core to perform the track live.
In comparison, “Smoke” debuted on Billboard Global 200 as Dynamicduo’s first entry on the chart and has nearly 15 million streams since its September release. Meanwhile, the duo will release a remix to “Smoke” in November featuring a slew of crossover K-pop successes including Jay Park, Zico, Jessi, B.I and Changmo to continue its breakthrough.
For the new and unexpected success, Dynamicduo give all thanks to listeners and their collaborators.
“The amount of love we have been getting this year is amazing and a big but pleasant surprise for us,” Gaeko says. “Every single day has been happy. We made ‘AEAO’ nine years ago with DJ Premier and I remember putting all of our energy and effort into this project because it was a meaningful moment in our career and we were so excited about getting an opportunity to work with someone we have admired and looked up to for so long. We had no idea a part of the song could go viral on social media, but I think the lyrics, melody and meaning of the song fit well with creators’ uses of short-form content. I think we were very lucky this year.”
He adds, “The ‘Smoke’ choreography, which was made by [choreographer] Bada and performed by her [Street Woman Fighter 2] team, played a major role in the success of the song and it made us realize again how powerful and influential a dance performance can be for a song’s success. We are very grateful to Bada and her team.”
“We are gaining a lot of love this year,” Choiza reflects. “I get excited whenever I look at the charts and get overwhelmed by the audience every time we perform. I think luck is on our side this year and we’ve been able to experience this kind of success because we’ve managed to stay in the game for this long.”
Pushing ahead, Dynamicduo are aiming to honor their newfound viral successes with old and classic tracks while still moving ahead with their career that celebrates 20 years in 2024. After a Korean concert in November to perform their two decades of hits, Gaeko and Choiza say they are “going to go all in and focus” on finishing their 2 Kids on the Block album. So far, the LP has been released piecemeal throughout this year including Part.1 in June (with four new tracks like the single “19”), Part.2 in August (with new single “HUNT” featuring PSICK UNIV and another new track) with more soon on the way as the K-hip-hop legends balance unexpected viral hits with the new material sharing their artistic perspective further.
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