This phrase appeared in an article posted on November 7, analyzing why the Blackpink members did not accept a Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist category.
In the article, Rolling Stone wrote Blackpink as (certainly) the biggest K-pop group in history, and has been for many years. Immediately, many BTS fans strongly objected, saying that this assessment was incorrect and citing a series of objective data - from album sales, global sales, Billboard achievements to international awards to affirm BTS' position in K-pop history.
The wave of protests spread rapidly on social media, on November 19, Rolling Stone had to edit the article after about six hours. The controversial phrase was changed to "the biggest K-pop girl group", narrowing the scope and avoiding direct comparison with boy groups.
On the other hand, the Blackpink fan community also spoke up to defend the group, providing outstanding data on YouTube, Spotify and a series of recent achievements. In particular, the song Jump was highlighted as the song by a K-pop group with the longest stay on the Spotify Global chart in 2025.
New data released from YouTube Music shows that Rose has led all K-pop artists in the past 12 months with 4.14 billion views the first time in history that a K-pop solo artist has reached this milestone. On the group rankings, Blackpink, NewJeans and BTS ranked first, second and third respectively. Notably, the 5th generation rookie group Baby Monster showed their strong momentum on both YouTube and Spotify.
The incident shows the growing influence of K-pop, where just one phrase in an international media article can become the focus of debate, reflecting the fierce competition and idol protection of the global fan community.
