YG’s YANG HYUN SUK Scores Another “Hundred Million” Milestone, BABYMONSTER Soars With “DRIP” (feat. 69 Videos and 7 Billion Views)
[OSEN=최이정, 선미경 기자] YG has hit another major home run. Following BLACKPINK, BABYMONSTER, which has risen as YG’s flagship girl group, recently surpassed 200 million views on YouTube alone with the performance video for “DRIP.” Given today’s video ecosystem, where content spreads across all kinds of SNS platforms, the view count for “DRIP” is expected to grow exponentially.
The reason YG continues to achieve unrivaled results and momentum in the performance video market lies in the focus of YANG HYUN SUK, Executive Producer of YG. So who exactly is YANG HYUN SUK? He is the founder of YG Entertainment, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, and a “dancer” who debuted in 1992 as a member of Seo Taiji and Boys and instantly changed the landscape of the Korean music market. But is that all?
It was also his persistence that expanded the essence of the visuals and choreography an artist seeks to realize beyond the limits of music shows into an independent field called the “performance video.” Moving beyond conventional “DANCE PRACTICE” videos that simply record formations in casual clothes, he built content that delivers overwhelming immersion beyond a music video by adding large-scale dancers and dazzling stage effects.
The sense for choreography and uncompromising persistence he has proven since his Seo Taiji and Boys days ultimately bore fruit in records such as surpassing 100 million YouTube subscribers, led by BLACKPINK, and 7 billion views for performance videos. The reality is that even music videos by top-tier artists often struggle to exceed 100 million views. Yet YG’s 69 performance videos, which total 7 billion views, are all known to have been personally planned and produced with YANG HYUN SUK’s involvement, while he reportedly handled 100% of the choreography composition and video editing. In other words, it is as if a born dancer and successful producer were combined with a triathlon champion.
His passion for leading the domestic performance video market led directly to the fruit of BABYMONSTER’s performance video for “DRIP,” the title track of their first full-length album, surpassing 200 million YouTube views at 1:08 a.m. on the 11th. BABYMONSTER is continuing its explosive growth, adding another 200-million-view video about one year and nine months after releasing the video in November 2024. Having set a new record as the fastest K-pop girl group to reach 10 million subscribers, they are already approaching the 13 million mark. Their channel’s cumulative views are now on the verge of 10 billion.
This is the result of YANG HYUN SUK, who is known in the industry for allowing not even the slightest compromise when it comes to an artist’s stage and the quality of their work, personally leading everything from BABYMONSTER’s selection to their debut and activities. In fact, BABYMONSTER’s remarkable achievements are only one part of YG’s success story. This summer, 69 performance videos by YG artists reached the major milestone of 7 billion views, and YANG HYUN SUK stood at the center of it all.
Around 10 years ago, at the time of BLACKPINK’s debut, YANG HYUN SUK recognized the trend that YouTube would become the main platform of the global music market and immediately created a new form of content called the performance video. He showed foresight in using YouTube for artist marketing, and based on the experience built there, BLACKPINK was actively promoted through YouTube even before debut. The result is exactly as everyone knows.
The reason YG was able to take on the unconventional challenge of combining performance videos with SNS platforms was entirely thanks to YANG HYUN SUK’s leadership. In the early days, there was opposition from internal management because of the production risk involved, with each project costing anywhere from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won. Nevertheless, YANG HYUN SUK self-produced BLACKPINK’s choreography videos and performance videos for their hit songs and targeted YouTube as the main platform. Unlike existing practices in the music industry or the strategies of other agencies, YG instead minimized terrestrial music show appearances to about once a week and poured its efforts into enhancing stage quality and pursuing a premium strategy.
At the time, terrestrial music shows were completely blocking YouTube distribution in order to protect their own content, so YG targeted YouTube by creating its own IP content. The results of YANG HYUN SUK’s new challenge are nothing short of astonishing. BLACKPINK’s “How You Like That” performance video currently has 2 billion views, while LISA’s solo track “MONEY” has reached 1.2 billion views. Most of BLACKPINK’s choreography videos and performance videos also range between 300 million and 500 million views.
2026. 8. 14.
