Netizens compared Red Velvet's 'Birthday' to other songs released by the 3rd and 4th generations, especially TWICE's 'Talk That Talk' and 'SCIENTIST' and NMIXX's 'DICE'.
Red Velvet is one of the most prominent girl groups in 3rd generation K-pop, proven by their musicality, charming members, and solid fan base. However, their recent comeback has garnered attention, making online communities discuss their current popularity.
On November 28, Red Velvet released their sixth mini album "The ReVe Festival 2022 - Birthday" and their title track "Birthday". The song was well received by fans and critics alike, leading to its release selling 392,000 copies on Hanteo, breaking their previous first-day album sales record of 231,100 copies in their last comeback "The Reve Festival 2022 - Feel My Rhythm."
However, others expressed their thoughts on the comeback, along with Red Velvet's alleged decline in popularity. They even compared the achievements of "Birthday" with other songs released by the 3rd and 4th generations, especially TWICE's "Talk That Talk" and "SCIENTIST" and NMIXX's "DICE".
"People on enter-talk talk about how 'SCIENTIST' failed, but no one talks about them failing more than 'SCIENTIST'," commented a netizen. ""This is even worse than NMIXX 'DICE' kekekeke," said another netizen. "So where are the kids who said that NMIXX got a reality check when Jinni left?" said another.
Others claim how the "Power Up" composer should have just released "Feel My Rhythm" this year, even SM Entertainment would have given them another "Psycho" concept if the results weren't favourable. "This year, they should just release 'Feel My Rhythm', kekeke. This isn't the first or second time it's happened to them, if the results aren't that good, SM will just give them 'Psycho'," netizens said.
The defense came from fans who stated that Red Velvet had reached the top and was now at the point of maintaining a career. They point out how a generational change can result in a group earning less than its prime, and it's not uncommon for any senior group to experience this.
Why have SM female antis idol ahjummas gotten this low? Let's see, RV is already on their long haul and this is a fact. Their core fandom is as strong as ever and RV has achieved so much. Meanwhile, you guys are desperately trying to bring them down. If we change generations, of course, the results will be lower than during their heyday, this applies to everyone," commented the fans.
"RV has been in the long run ^^ They've come this far in their career. So you expect them to achieve better results than the 4th generation girl group? Kekeke," added other fans.
"Your own bias can't even do that, so why are you forcing it on RV~ At least they succeeded with 'Feel My Rhythm' and they've been active for years now, their fandom is still strong and the group is still strong," added another. (wk/goddess)
