BTS Jungkook‘s solo music career has been enigmatic. K-pop’s ‘golden’ vocalist started his solo career with an epic milestone, bagging his first solo Billboard Hot 100 topper with the release of Seven. He ‘recruited’ a Grammy-nominated female rapper in his first collaboration to accomplish the mission.
Years before his official ‘solo’ debut, Jungkook was flying in the air quite literally performing his solo song “Euphoria” in BTS’ sold-out stadium tours. Though quite different from his solo album’s tracks, the song showed the potential of the youngest BTS member. So, the stage was set for the South Korean legend, and the expectations were high. But Jungkook knew how to live up to his hype, and he did not disappoint.
Jungkook’s collaboration in ‘Seven’ with female rapper made history
BTS Jungkook worked with Grammy-nominated female rapper Latto in his first pre-release single, “Seven.” The reception of the single was unprecedented as fans were ‘not ready’ to witness Jungkook’s flamboyant side just yet.
The song’s explicit version caused a frenzy in fans, and as a result, the single became one of the most successful K-pop solo hits of all time.
Latto seemed a perfect fit as Jungkook’s first collaboration, whose energy matched the song’s sultry vibes. The “Lottery” crooner gushed over her collaboration with Jungkook in an interview, calling it a ‘fulfilling’ experience. She stated, “It literally has been so surreal witnessing his fanbase and how much they support him — it’s literally artist goals. I was so shocked. I’m like, “Are you sure you want me?” I felt so much pressure to do it, but I was like, “You know what? He reached out to me for a reason. Let me just go in there and do what I do best.” To see everybody’s reaction to my verse and how much they love it, it’s so fulfilling.”
The success of Jungkook’s “Seven” was prominent from its multiple Billboard chart appearances. Along with topping the prestigious Billboard Hot 100 chart, it debuted at the top on the July 29 issue of the Billboard Global 200. Reportedly, it garnered over 269,000 downloads and 217.1 million streams worldwide from July 14 through July 20, 2023, surpassing Miley Cyrus’ Flowers.
As expected from Jungkook, his ‘only’ completion became his group BTS. “Seven” reportedly gained the second-biggest overall streaming week of all time, behind only BTS’ “Butter,” which witnessed 289.2 million streams in the first week of its release.
Jungkook also made history as the first member of BTS to top the global chart as a solo artist. Later, Billboard announced “Seven” as the platform’s No. 1 global song of the summer for 2023.
Jungkook’s ‘long lasting’ impact on Spotify
Jungkook is often hailed as the ‘Spotify King‘ by fans for his long-lasting impact on the music platform. Spotify records started early for “Seven,” as the 27-year-old hitmaker debuted at the top of the daily Global Spotify Chart with about 16 million streams. The success of “Seven” on its opening day stream became the biggest debut in 2023 for any male artist.
But Jungkook’s “Seven” did not just stop making history in the first week of its release. Within 108 days of its release, the song reached a billion streams on the platform. It became the fastest song to hit one billion streams on Spotify. With this, Jungkook broke another record for Miley Cyrus, whose song ‘Flowers’ previously received 1 billion streams within 112 days of its release.
Surpassing several massive K-pop hits like Lisa’s “Money” and fellow member Jimin’s “Like Crazy,” “Seven” currently holds the top position as the most-streamed K-pop soloist song on Spotify with over 1,366,442,785 streams as of February 2024.