WOODZ, G-Dragon, BLACKPINK Dominate 2025 Melon Charts

• WOODZ’s Drowning topped Melon’s 2025 chart after a viral military performance.
• G-Dragon and BLACKPINK led global streams as well as ranked on Melon chart with Home Sweet Home and JUMP.
• New idols and anime/OST tracks rose in rankings through virality and cross-media appeal.

Melon's Year-End Top 100 chart released this week, featured WOODZ's Drowning as the most streamed song of the year 2025. This is a rare accomplishment that only a few solo artists in the crowded K-pop scene are able to achieve, creating a confluence of a viral comeback and long-term commercial resonance.

WOODZ’s Drowning, was originally released in April 2023 as a B-side track as a part of his 5th mini-album OO-LI. When the song was first released, it did not really dominate the charts. Its revival began in late 2024, when a recording of WOODZ performing the song during his military service became popular, sparking a long-term rise through 2025. 

On Circle Chart’s recent December-January rankings, Drowning maintained a strong presence as well. It was placed within the top 10 among all digital singles, a significant achievement given stiff competition from artists like Hwasa and NMIXX.

WOODZ Tops the Charts Despite G-Dragon’s Continued Dominance 

Drowning became a defining digital hit for a soloist outside the typical group-centered landscape of K-pop, even besting heavyweights including G-Dragon’s Home Sweet Home and aespa’s Whiplash which ranked second and third in the chart respectively. Drowning also competed with IVE and DAY6, who also had multiple songs placed amongst the top 100.

G-Dragon’s song Home Sweet Home from his 2025 album Übermensch, is one of the biggest hits of his solo career. Notably, Übermensch was also surpassed by WOODZ’s Drowning in the midyear digital chart of Circle Chart, released around early 2025. Too Bad (feat. Anderson .Paak), Power, Untitled, 2014 released in 2017, and Take Me, are some of the other G-Dragon hits which ranked on the 2025 Year-End Top 100 of Melon. 

Rising K-pop Stars Make Their Mark

The rise of new generation artists was particularly noteworthy. FAMOUS, a song by ALLDAY PROJECT, a mixed-group that made its debut in 2025, was ranked at 23rd. While I DO ME by KiiiKiii, a new girl group from Starship, ranked at 63rd. The Chase and STYLE, by Hearts2Hearts, ranked at 81st and 89th, respectively, carrying on the legacy of SM girl groups.

Furthermore, major accomplishments by fifth-generation idols raised anticipation for their activities in 2026. Amongst them, BOYNEXTDOOR’s Today Only I LOVE YOU was placed at 12th, while BABYMONSTER’s DRIP ranked at 28th, with ILLIT’s Magnetic getting a position at the 43rd place.

These tracks ruled the 2025 viral and streaming scene. Today Only I LOVE YOU became one of the most popular K-pop sounds in South Korea on TikTok. The song was included in NME's 25 Best K-pop Songs of the Year and was placed seventh on Apple Music Korea's Top 100 of the Year, making it one of the highest-placed K-pop boy-group songs. Today Only I LOVE YOU was also featured under K-pop songs in Google's Year in Search 2025 and in Spotify Korea's 2025 Wrapped Top Tracks.

Additionally, with slightly more than 300 million YouTube views, DRIP propelled BABYMONSTER in global popularity in 2025. Also, ILLIT's Magnetic surpassed 100M YouTube views and entered the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Official Singles Chart, showcasing its global appeal.

BLACKPINK’s Global Domination Seen in Melon Chart

BLACKPINK, who reunited as a group after three years apart, also exhibited remarkable strength as well. While their new song JUMP climbed to 27th position, the members' individual tracks also became increasingly popular. ROSÉ and Bruno Mars' collaboration APT. soared to 6th place, while JENNIE's like JENNIE was placed in 11th position, showing the global craze through chart performance.

Notably, industry observers like Soompi and allkpop revealed, JUMP earned 123M streams and about 14,000 sales globally in its first tracking week (ending July 17, 2025), debuting at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts. After Pink Venom and Shut Down, this was BLACKPINK's third song to achieve the top ranking at the Global 200. On the other hand, APT. attained extremely high streaming numbers worldwide, with Spotify streams apparently reaching over 10.18M in a single day while also rising to the top of major global charts.

Anime and OST Tracks Gain Popularity

It is particularly interesting that animated and anime film tracks also gained popularity in the Melon charts. The OST of Kpop Demon Hunters broke the previous records of the overseas Melon charts with a staggering selection of eight songs in the top 30, including Golden, for which EJAE won the top spot. 

J-pop too gained widespread popularity, particularly due to the success of Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc. The anime film’s theme song IRIS OUT and the closing song JANE DOE both entered the annual chart, ranking 9th and 64th, respectively.

The 2025 charts show a dynamic K-pop environment that combines virality, cross-generational influence, and global reach. While established acts like G-Dragon stay relevant through targeted releases, soloists like WOODZ also seem to attain long-term digital domination. At the same time, new-generation idols and media-linked tracks such as various anime songs also indicate that success in today’s time is multifaceted, which encompasses both fan interaction and cultural crossover instead of counting exclusive traditional album sales.