K-pop girl group A2O Lite tops Melon faster than NewJeans
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A2O Lite topped Melon’s Top 100 chart just 29 hours after releasing its debut single Neon.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM A20LITE/YOUTUBE
- A2O Lite topped Melon’s Top 100 with debut single Neon in 29 hours, the fastest debut No. 1 since the chart changed in 2021.
- The nine-member group beat NewJeans and AllDay Project, but Neon soon fell to No. 6 and Soyeon took back No. 1.
- Lee Soo-man’s comeback drew big attention, but critic Lim Hee-yun said buzz and social media may have driven the surge more than lasting public demand.
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SEOUL – A2O Lite, the new girl group produced by Lee Soo-man and A2O Entertainment, topped Melon’s Top 100 chart just 29 hours after releasing its debut single, setting a record for the fastest debut song to reach No. 1 since the chart was revamped in 2021.
The nine-member group’s debut single Neon reached No. 1 at 11pm on Oct 14.
The milestone came considerably faster than NewJeans’ debut single Attention, which took eight days to top the chart in August 2022.
Neon entered Melon’s Top 100 at No. 77 at 10pm on Oct 13 before climbing to No. 10 by 9am on Oct 14.
It reached No. 2 by 9pm and held that position for another hour before overtaking I-dle member Soyeon’s I’m Gonna Toesa at 11pm.
The achievement also surpassed the previous record held by coed group AllDay Project, whose debut single Famous, released in June 2025, took three days to reach No. 1.
The chart measures the most popular songs on Melon, one of South Korea’s largest music streaming platforms, combining recent and daily streaming activity.
A2O Lite’s stay at the top, however, was brief. Neon slipped to No. 6 in the early hours of Oct 15 and Soyeon’s song reclaimed the top spot.
The debut has drawn particular attention as Lee’s first girl group targeting the domestic market since departing SM Entertainment – the company he founded and helped establish as a K-pop powerhouse – in early 2023. He launched A2O Entertainment in 2024 and debuted Chinese girl group A2O May in December that year.
Lee introduced A2O Lite alongside 15-member boy group A2O Soul at a joint showcase on Oct 12 in Goyang, Gyeonggi province, marking his return to South Korean music production following the expiration of his three-year non-compete agreement with Hybe in February.
The track was produced by Yoo Young-jin, Lee’s long-time collaborator at SM, whose credits include work with H.O.T., BoA, TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, Shinee and Aespa.
Music critic Lim Hee-yun cautioned that the group’s rapid chart success may have been driven more by curiosity surrounding Lee’s comeback and extensive social media promotion than by established public demand.
“It happened in such a short period of time that I think the buzz played a major role,” Lim told The Korea Herald.
“Lee Soo-man is a name everyone knows, and he’s returning after a long absence. There also seems to have been considerable social media marketing.”
Lim also noted that Neon carries the recognisable SM sound associated with acts such as f(x) and Aespa, reflecting Yoo’s involvement in its production. While that familiar style may appeal to long-time K-pop listeners, its broader popularity remains uncertain, he said.
“Whether the content itself has satisfied the wider public is something we still need to see,” Lim said. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK