KEY POINTS

  • “Stay Alive" was sung by BTS singer, dancer Jungkook
  • The track received four million streams on its first day of release on Spotify
  • “7Fates: CHAKHO” follows the story of seven monster hunters

BTS’ Suga and Jungkook’s joint musical venture, “Stay Alive,” which appears on the soundtrack of an HYBE Entertainment web novel, has set new records on two streaming platforms following its release on Friday.

“Stay Alive,” a ballad sung by 24-year-old Jungkook and produced by rapper Suga, is now the fastest song by any Korean soloist to hit No. 1 on iTunes Top songs charts upon its release on Feb. 11. It hit No. 1 in 80 different regions including the U.S., U.K., Japan, France, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.

On Spotify, the track also made history after getting over four million streams on its first day of release, higher than any other song released by a Korean soloist on Spotify. “Stay Alive” garnered 4,273,772 million streams upon its release beating previous record-holder - Blackpink’s Rosé, whose song “On The Ground” amassed over 3 million Spotify streams when it debuted in March 2021.

Aside from this, the track also entered Spotify’s Global Top 50 chart at No. 3, just two spots below The Glass Animals and Justin Bieber and The Kid LAROI.

“Stay Alive” appears on the official soundtrack of the webtoon, “7Fates: CHAKHO” which follows the story of seven monster hunters, the “Chakhogapsa,” who goes on a mission to avenge their family members who were killed by the monsters ravaging the fictional city of Sin-Si. The web novel is available on Wattpad and on the Naver webtoon app.

BTS’ Music label, HYBE Entertainment, describes the song as a “nod to the characters in the story as they try to survive in a vicious world.” Its lyrics explore an “isolated boy’s earnest heart and message to himself and friends who he meets in that vicious world.”

According to HYBE, the pop ballad has a “dreamy, sublime energy that compliments the storyline and atmosphere of the urban fantasy story that portrays confrontations between humans and the “Beom (monsters)” tribe in a corrupt world.”

“7Fates:CHAKHO” was released in 10 languages worldwide in January garnering over 15 million views within two days, HYBE said.

New chapters are released every Saturday but paying subscribers can unlock chapters ahead of time.

Shares in the management company of K-pop stars BTS more than doubled on their debut in Seoul
Shares in the management company of K-pop stars BTS more than doubled on their debut in Seoul AFP / Jung Yeon-je
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