{"id":647201,"date":"2026-10-15T13:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/647201\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T13:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:50:12","slug":"k-pop-girl-group-a2o-lite-tops-melon-faster-than-newjeans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/647201\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop girl group A2O Lite tops Melon faster than NewJeans"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL \u2013 A2O Lite, the new girl group produced by Lee Soo-man<\/a> and A2O Entertainment, topped Melon\u2019s Top 100 chart just 29 hours after releasing its debut single, setting a record for the fastest debut song to reach No. 1 since the chart was revamped in 2021.<\/p>\n

The nine-member group\u2019s debut single Neon reached No. 1 at 11pm on Oct 14.<\/p>\n

The milestone came considerably faster than NewJeans\u2019 debut<\/a> single Attention, which took eight days to top the chart in August 2022.<\/p>\n

Neon entered Melon\u2019s Top 100 at No. 77 at 10pm on Oct 13 before climbing to No. 10 by 9am on Oct 14.<\/p>\n

It reached No. 2 by 9pm and held that position for another hour before overtaking I-dle member Soyeon\u2019s I\u2019m Gonna Toesa at 11pm.<\/p>\n

The achievement also surpassed the previous record held by coed group AllDay Project, whose debut single Famous, released in June 2025, took three days to reach No. 1.<\/p>\n

The chart measures the most popular songs on Melon, one of South Korea\u2019s largest music streaming platforms, combining recent and daily streaming activity.<\/p>\n

A2O Lite\u2019s stay at the top, however, was brief. Neon slipped to No. 6 in the early hours of Oct 15 and Soyeon\u2019s song reclaimed the top spot.<\/p>\n

The debut has drawn particular attention as Lee\u2019s first girl group targeting the domestic market since departing SM Entertainment in early 2023, the company he founded and helped establish as a K-pop powerhouse. He launched A2O Entertainment in 2024 and debuted the Chinese girl group A2O May in December that year.<\/p>\n

Lee introduced A2O Lite alongside 15-member boy group A2O Soul at a joint showcase on Oct 12 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, marking his return to South Korean music production following the expiration of his three-year noncompete agreement with Hybe in February.<\/p>\n

The track was produced by Yoo Young-jin, Lee\u2019s longtime collaborator at SM, whose credits include work with H.O.T., BoA, TVXQ, Girls\u2019 Generation, Shinee and Aespa.<\/p>\n

Music critic Lim Hee-yun cautioned that the group\u2019s rapid chart success may have been driven more by curiosity surrounding Lee\u2019s comeback and extensive social media promotion than by established public demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happened in such a short period of time that I think the buzz played a major role,\u201d Lim told The Korea Herald.<\/p>\n

\u201cLee Soo-man is a name everyone knows, and he\u2019s returning after a long absence. There also seems to have been considerable social media marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lim also noted that Neon carries the recognizable SM sound associated with acts such as F(x) and Aespa, reflecting Yoo Young-jin\u2019s involvement in its production. While that familiar style may appeal to longtime K-pop listeners, he said its broader popularity remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether the content itself has satisfied the wider public is something we still need to see,\u201d Lim said. THE KOREA HERALD\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL \u2013 A2O Lite, the new girl group produced by Lee Soo-man and A2O Entertainment, topped Melon\u2019s Top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-647201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}