BTS's V has reached an incredible milestone by surpassing 3.6 billion streams on Spotify with his solo songs, proving his strong global influence.

As of September 22, V’s solo tracks on his Spotify profile have combined to reach over 3.6 billion streams. His profile includes songs from his solo album Layover, drama OSTs, self-composed tracks, and the song "Friends (FRI(END)S)," released while he was serving in the military.

What makes this even more impressive is that V achieved this without collaborating with any global pop stars, showing how powerful his unique music is and how much fans appreciate the warm, comforting messages in his songs.

His first solo album Layover made history as the first album by a K-pop solo artist to have all its tracks surpass 100 million streams on Spotify. The album also hit #1 on Spotify's Global Weekly Chart with every track. By September 25, Layover had reached a total of 1.9 billion streams and topped iTunes Album Charts in 109 countries.

One of the standout songs from Layover, "Love Me Again," has been on Spotify’s Global Chart for more than 400 days, making it the first K-pop B-side track to achieve this.

V’s digital single "Friends," released on March 15, became the most streamed K-pop solo song in Spotify's 2024 mid-year report. It also ranked in the top 10 for the longest-charting K-pop solo songs on Spotify's Global Chart, further proving V's immense popularity.

As of September 28, V has gained 18,762,269 followers on Spotify, making him the first K-pop solo artist to surpass 18 million followers.

He ranks first among K-pop solo artists and fourth overall in K-pop, including groups. Globally, he is ranked 105th in Spotify followers, and only 263 artists worldwide have more than 10 million followers, highlighting his massive influence as a solo artist.

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NewJeans' Minji touched fans' hearts with a handwritten letter on her birthday — even while the group is currently unable to promote due to legal issues.

On May 7, Minji celebrated her birthday by sharing a heartfelt message on the group’s personal SNS account, which the members opened themselves to stay connected with fans.

Minji began her letter with honesty, writing, “I think I’m living a busier life than I expected. When I finally looked up, it was already May, and it was my birthday.”

She admitted that she had a lot she wanted to say, but her thoughts felt “messy.” Still, her message to fans was clear, “I just hope that I, our members, and Bunnies can all be happy. Happiness is the biggest goal in my life.”

Minji then opened up about her personal journey and struggles, saying, “I sometimes think that running toward my happiness by doing what I love might look foolish to others. But isn’t giving up your happiness now for the sake of a future that might not even come… too harsh on yourself?”

Despite everything, she ended on a hopeful note, “I really miss the times when we shared our feelings through the good music we made together. But I always look forward to what’s ahead."

She added, "We didn’t stop here, and we’re not going to stop! It might look like we’re standing still, but I believe we’re growing deeper.”

Her message comes during a difficult time for NewJeans. The group announced last year that they were cutting ties with ADOR, their original agency, after trust was broken. They later began working independently under the new name ‘NJZ’.

However, ADOR responded with legal action — claiming the exclusive contract with NewJeans was still valid and asking the court to stop the group from promoting or signing deals.

The court sided with ADOR and granted an injunction, forcing NewJeans to pause their activities. Their appeal was rejected, and they’ve now filed a second appeal.

Through it all, Minji’s message proves one thing — even when forced to stop, NewJeans' hearts are still moving forward.

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