BTS J-Hope's 'Boycotted' Album Sales Ignite Heated Debate Among ARMYs — Here's What Happened
The results of the ongoing boycott of J-Hope's newest album have divided ARMYs online.
Read more about what happened below.
BTS J-Hope's 'Hope on the Street Vol. 1' Experiences 'Declining' Album Sales Performance + ARMYs Confliced
K-pop fans of HYBE groups have been vocal against the agency for the past several months, as the protests are mainly fixated on Scooter Braun, the CEO of HYBE America.
due to Scooter Braun, who actively supports genocide & spreads islamophobic propaganda, you are stuck for 10 years w a man facing sex trafficking charges w involvement in pedophelia who ALSO funds & supports genocide @hitmanb#HYBEDivestFromZionism#하이브는시오니스트를퇴출하라 pic.twitter.com/9eTWXEKjKL
— cam⁷ ! 🍉 (@seokfilmz) March 29, 2024
is this how you wanna be remembered @hitmanb HYBE REMOVE SCOOTER BRAUN #하이브는시오니스트를퇴출하라 #HybeDivestFromZionism pic.twitter.com/G5dmFW9o42
— moni⁷ 🧸 (@batsmurdock) March 29, 2024
this is so embarrassing for you did you see this @scooterbraun lawde pic.twitter.com/c6NB07BiUM
— flower⁷ (@tulipstfu) March 29, 2024
The protests have gone through multiple boycotts with the purpose of cutting HYBE's ties with Zionism. One example of the protest that transpired was when fans attempted to boycott Suga's upcoming "D-DAY" movie due to its screenings in Israel, which HYBE faced backlash for.
Eventually, fans also set their eyes on boycotting member J-Hope's newest album "Hope on the Street Vol. 1." The special album was released on March 29, together with its title track "NEURON" and features artists such as Huh Yunjin, Jungkook, Gaeko and many more.
(Photo : Facebook: BTS (방탄소년단))
(Photo : Facebook: BTS (방탄소년단))
(Photo : Facebook: BTS (방탄소년단))
However, instead of the album excelling in its performance on the charts, Hanteo revealed that it only secured a total of 467,014 sales, which was a decline compared to the 519,476 set by "Jack In The Box."
"Hope on the Street Vol. 1" initially reached 743 album sales in its fifth day since it was released, concluding a total of 445,939. Two days later, the album reached its seventh day, finalizing 467,014 album sales for its first week.
[HT] j-hope (@bts_bighit) 1st Special Album <Hope on the Street Vol.1>
DAY 1: 441,333
DAY 2: 001,217
DAY 3: 001,257
DAY 4: 001,389
DAY 5: 000,743
TOTAL: 445,939 #jhope #제이홉 pic.twitter.com/aecE1hFllR— KOREAN SALES (@koreansales_twt) April 2, 2024
📊| "HOPE ON THE STREET VOL.1" by #JHOPE - First Week Sales on Hanteo:
— Bangtan_streamers⁷ (@Bangtan7_Stream) April 4, 2024
D-1 : 441,333
D-2 : 1,217
D-3 : 1,257
D-4 : 1,389
D-5 : 743
D-6 : 15,634
D-7 : 5,441
Total 1st Week Sales: 467,014. pic.twitter.com/G2dJ5obYEg
The poor sales performance was claimed by many as the result of the ongoing boycott. On social media platform X (Twitter), ARMYs stood their ground regarding the goal of making a statement to HYBE through the protest.
Read their reactions below:
imagine if all sales of everything hybe looked like this. imagine the impact it would have . sc00ter and other zionists would be fired instantly https://t.co/xphmxdlRu7
— ksenia⁷ (@syubunnyg) April 3, 2024
And this, everybody, is how you boycott https://t.co/za9eIdFS7I
— HYBE Boycott Updates (@hybeboycotts) April 3, 2024
this is how a boycott should work btw https://t.co/NHILuwM8CB
— andrea ɴ/α (@ilyjeongeun) April 3, 2024
Idk about y’all but I am so proud of armys who are boycotting right now. ALL hybe fandoms need to see this and feel confident in this boycott. If we keep up this momentum across all fandoms, we will impact the company’s bottom line & hopefully they will hear our demands. https://t.co/xyCcd1Fr3M
— nora 🍉 (@irrisvt) April 3, 2024
sorry hobi. we'll make up for it after scooters gone ❤️
— anee⁷ 🍉🇮🇳 (@kkeyuphoria) April 3, 2024
continue boycotting. disrupt every sale of every album and merch until scooter and his genocidal zionist buddies are gone#HybeDivestFromZionism #하이브는시오니스트를퇴출하라 https://t.co/yAbzGPqDA7
Boycotting works, we told ya, hope bh is scared enough now https://t.co/2ZkTyso1QB
— եɑɾjɑ ⁷ ˚ 🍉 .𓆪 (@byNymphade) April 3, 2024
Meanwhile, some ARMYs enraged with the boycott results, as they expressed anger over the ones who didn't support J-Hope's new release. Here's how they reacted:
sabotagemys celebrating in the qrts https://t.co/oUEec61Ko1 pic.twitter.com/MKs80Pe1II
— 🍒 (@wootteocharts) April 3, 2024
nobody in HYBE will know the reason sales are this low is bc of boycott😭 all other groups sales are high. you are all bunch of airheads https://t.co/oXdw40lLLS
— ana🇷🇸 (@kn_ucks) April 3, 2024
Boycotters are more r3t4rded than i thought cos HOTS sold more than JITB first week like ur performative activism has no effect https://t.co/ELUG9Ubqhn
— hamster stan (@jinpoppers) April 4, 2024
The chart is not frozen. What has frozen is your love for Jhope🥺 https://t.co/g34Da8Hl2t
— Seti ♡suga🌺 Rest ✿𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻⋆ (@btssetiot77) April 2, 2024
i hate to say this but hsk will never know his album sales are low bc ppl are boycotting since other groups‘ album sales are high. he‘s just gonna think there’s no interest https://t.co/DzhfpLSrdd
— ☼ (@nwjnsgenre) April 3, 2024
And the thing is no other artist from that comp experienced boycott only hobi.others sales and streams going up and hobi?i feel bad for him
— tata (@tattsjm) April 4, 2024
army is so dumb, they think they are saving the world with this but they are only ruining bts. The other fandoms are taking advantage of this by pretending they support the boycott when they only support it when it comes to bts because no other hybe group is being affected https://t.co/WGeiEkMeTo
— Pink Moon ⁷👩🏻🚀⁵¹ (@DearMoon041292) April 4, 2024
What are your thoughts on the boycott? Let us know in the comments below.
Read KpopStarz for more K-pop news.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BTS J-Hope's Unfiltered Personality Revealed in 'No Problem' Moments: 'I hope he's not my boss..'
