BIGBANG’s G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and now former member Seungri are recognized as the Kings of K-pop. And according to Billboard’s Tamar Herman, "Fantastic Baby was the first song to cross international boundaries with its then-groundbreaking EDM style.”
The song was highly claimed by critics, Rolling Stone naming it one of the greatest boy band songs of all-time, saying "this instantly accessible single from K-Pop phenomenon Big Bang blew off many doors of American crossover with little effort on the band's part.” "Fantastic Baby" is also being labeled as a "modern-day essential" for showcasing "K-pop's genre-bending, visually-oriented charms."
The single went on to sell more than four million downloads in South Korea and over 6.5 million across Asia, becoming one of the best-selling digital singles of all-time and one of the best-selling singles in South Korea. Its music video broke several records for K-pop groups on YouTube, including being the first to surpass 200 and 300 million views and being the most-watched video for several years.
And on June 7 at approximately 5:30 p.m. KST, the music video for “Fantastic Baby” surpassed 400 million views on YouTube, making it BIGBANG’s first music video to achieve the feat, also the only second generation group to achieve it. This milestone makes a lot of sense. Four members of BIGBANG are currently completing their mandatory military service, and fans can’t seem to hide how much they miss the boys together.
Since T.O.P (Choi Seung-Hyun), G-Dragon (Kwon Ji-Yong), Taeyang (Dong Young-bae), and Daesung’s (Kang Dae-sung) enlistment are kept as private as possible, fans wouldn’t have an easy way to express how much they miss the BIGBANG boys. However, the view counts of the YG Entertainment boy group’s music videos on YouTube are enough proof of their supporter’s undying love for them and their music.
There is a big possibility that more views were added to BIGBANG’s music videos because fans have been missing the boys a lot. And since G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, and Daesung will not be seen as a group for at least two years, watching their old videos is the only way that fans can see the boys together.
Also, BIGBANG still managed to make it to Billboard’s “100 Greatest Boy Band Songs Of All Time” list despite their absence in the limelight as a group due to the four members’ military service. This just goes to show that the YG Entertainment's boy band remains a tough competition to beat despite the huge number of popular groups in the Korean entertainment world at the moment.
