Low-key summer songs are winning: JENNIE, fromis_9, Bol4 lead July's chart push
JENNIE's 'Less than a Lover' hits #1 on Bugs and Apple Music Korea; fromis_9 surpass 100K first-week sales; Bol4's 2002 remake trends on YouTube.
JENNIE dropped Less than a Lover on July 24. The alternative pop track—about the blur between lovers and friends, all excitement and lingering feeling—shot to #1 on Bugs, #1 on Apple Music TOP100 South Korea, and #1 in YouTube Trending Music Videos (music category). It landed at #24 on Melon TOP100.
fromis_9 weren't far behind. Their second full-length album arrived July 21 with Vitamin ME at #44 on Melon TOP100, #1 on Bugs, and #1 in YouTube Trending Music Videos. First-week sales crossed 100,000—their fourth album to do it, and the first since Unlock My World in 2023.
Bol4 (볼빨간사춘기) chose a different path. On July 22 they released a remake of Indigo's 2002 summer track 여름아! 부탁해, which debuted at #2 in YouTube Trending Music Videos and entered Melon TOP100. A 24-year-old song charting in 2026 says something.
Jon Park released 여름을 돌아와 on July 23—self-written, self-composed, self-arranged, about the people and memories that come back every summer, not the glossy vacation version. Song Ha-ye put out her remake 바다 가자 (2026) on July 15. Hyolyn returned with ChecK, the title track from her fourth mini album.
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