The latest single ‘Boy With Luv’ of K-pop boy band BTS became the most viewed music video on YouTube in South Korea, garnering 78 million views in the first 24 hours of its release! It has also topped the milestone of 600 million YouTube views, according to the channel.
Significant achievement – Entering the Guinness World Record
Boy With Luv also set the Guinness World Record for the most views on YouTube in 24 hours, something that even Korean Youtubers would wish for . ‘Boy With Luv’ is a track from their latest album ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’ featuring American diva and pop star Halsey.
‘Boy With Luv’ broke the previous record, set just by K-pop girl group Blackpink’s ‘Kill This Love,’ which had 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours. It has also become the fastest video to reach 100 million views (in less than two days). YouTube drew a staggering 2 million comments in the first 24 hours, which grew to over 2.7 million.
Boy With Luv’ is a reference to BTS’ song ‘Boy in Luv’ which was released in 2014. The lyrics of the song mention the relationship the group has with its ARMY – ‘I’m flying high in the sky with the two wings you gave me’- with the wings referencing the title of their second album.
Hit in the US too
In the US, all seven songs from BTS’s ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’ are available on Apple’s iTunes top 10 music chart. It stands at No. 2 behind the remix of Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ country-hip-hop track featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
The ‘Boy With Luv’ video pays homage to Gene Kelly’s classic movie musical ‘Singin’ in the Rain.’ It was directed by YongSeok Choi of Seoul-based production house Lumpens.