There’s no denying QWER’s got spirit. Debuting on October 18, 2023 with the release of “Harmony from Discord,” QWER burst onto the music scene with an approach unlike any other band, boldly challenging the industry. They’ve consistently made significant strides over the past year and a half, and the results speak for themselves.

2024 was, without a doubt, QWER’s year. Their mini album “MANITO,” released that April, featured the lead single “T.B.H,” which became such a massive hit that it was the single most popular song of the year in Korea according to YouTube’s Global Culture and Trends Report. The excitement continued with the popularity of “My Name is Malguem,” the lead single off their second mini album, “Algorithm’s Blossom,” released September 23. The excitement from last year still hasn’t subsided, with “T.B.H” even reaching 100 million streams on the streaming service Melon this past May 10.

With their first release of the year, their third mini album “In a million noises, I’ll be your harmony,” the band broke new ground, selling approximately 80,000 copies in its first week, far eclipsing the 45,000 “Algorithm’s Blossom” had sold. The music video for the lead single, “Dear,” surpassed 10 million views just five days, 19 hours, and 10 minutes after its release on June 9. For comparison, their earlier single, “My Name is Malguem,” took six days, 20 hours, and 30 minutes to hit the same milestone. It’s hard to say whether “Dear” was as broadly popular, but it’s clear that the band’s receiving a huge amount of support from an influx of new fans.

There were signs as early as January. QWER held their first fan concert over two days starting on the 25th at YES24 LIVE HALL, which seats around 3,000. Tickets were completely sold out in under a minute. Riding the wave of success, the band took the show on the road to Japan in April, where lead singer Siyeon had previously been in the group NMB48. They then played Taipei in May.

All-woman bands haven’t traditionally enjoyed much popularity in Korea, making QWER’s success all the more notable. Hans Band enjoyed a brief moment in the spotlight in 1998, but they quickly came to a halt. In 2012, the girl group AOA debuted with a combination idol group/band concept but abandoned it after releasing “GET OUT,” the lead single off their second single album, later that same year in October. Wonder Girls wasn’t a band at first, but they transformed into one when they underwent a lineup change in 2015. But after that, the idea of an all-girl band finding success in Korea had seemed farfetched. So how is it that QWER, after bursting onto the scene like a comet in 2023, is now enjoying such dazzling success?

From pure discord to a world of noises

“Are you serious about making music?”

With that single comment from YouTuber Egg Kim, QWER got their small-scale start through a web series called “OSHI NO GIRLS.” As the girls were scouted one by one, the band gradually took on the shape of what Egg Kim was envisioning, making up each letter of QWER, starting with Chodan (Q), a streamer majoring in drumming. Fellow streamer Magenta (W) took up the bass, and TikToker Hina (E) already had experience with guitar and keyboard. Last was Siyeon, who had spent roughly two years as a member of NMB48, graduating from the J-pop group before becoming QWER’s R.

But as Egg Kim, the creative director behind QWER, says in the “QWER ALGORITHM’S BLOSSOM Documentary,” the group was “a motley crew a few years” earlier and in “real discord.” As they put out albums and put on concerts, though, QWER became increasingly serious about the music. Thanks to relentless practice and determination, they grew to where they could perform their own songs with ease and turn heads, and did so despite accusations that they weren’t really playing their instruments. “I guess it was an inevitable controversy,” Hina says in the documentary, with Magenta reflecting, “If I seem unprofessional enough to give rise to such misunderstandings, I thought I should work hard so that it wouldn’t look like that.”

As a new band put together by a man with no formal music background and made up of streamers, QWER found people weren’t so kind in their assessment—and that’s still true today. “They’re neither this nor that, feeling not welcome anywhere,” Producer Lee Donghyuk, who oversees QWER’s music, says. “That really broke my heart. But I didn’t want to refute harshly to that.” And the band, too, overcame the controversy in a professional manner.

Last July, QWER faced intense criticism when they were included in the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival lineup, but they proudly showed off everything they’d been working towards with cameras set up to show their hands at work. They’ve only upped their stage presence since then, opting mainly to put on live shows as opposed to TV music shows, where accusations of miming tend to restrict their freedom. When Egg Kim created QWER, he envisioned an idol group that would focus on self-improvement, and they’ve been following that path earnestly ever since. And this year, having played major festivals like the Weverse Con Festival, Beautiful Mint Life, and Pentaport, QWER has taken a step beyond that growth-driven idol group, instead establishing themselves as a growth-driven band.

“The music I make starts with ‘QWER.’ That’s my resolve. I want to do music for the rest of my life,” Chodan, the leader of the band, explains in the documentary “Harmony from Discord.” “I want to tell my story through my music one day.” Hina, meanwhile, says she wants “to make it crystal clear: We’re a musically ambitious band and made a successful debut as idols. I’m grateful for the love we got before, but I want people to pay more attention to our new aspects.” In other words, the band knows exactly what they’re trying to do as artists.

Just as QWER came to approach their music with genuine sincerity, the public started to earnestly embrace their music in turn. The band’s dedication translated directly into the success of the lead single “T.B.H” off their first mini album, the strong performance of their second mini album, “Algorithm’s Blossom,” and the new peak they’ve now reached with their third mini album, “In a million noises, I’ll be your harmony.”

An idol band reborn as a true all-woman band

Their debut lead single off “Harmony from Discord,” titled “Discord,” was perfectly named for a band like QWER. Brought together in a hodgepodge fashion, QWER inevitably had its share of discord, but they returned with a much more polished sound with the release of their first mini album, “MANITO.” Music major Chodan, in particular, fulfilled her desire “to tell my story through my music” by not only helping to write the songs but by singing on the title track, too. Listeners, in turn, responded enthusiastically, watching the music video more and pushing the song up higher on the charts than the band’s previous work. The upbeat, vibrant track “T.B.H” rode a wave of popularity thanks to the algorithm, and QWER started to meet their audiences in person, beginning with campus festivals.

With more experience under their belt thanks to playing these live shows, they’re sounding better than ever on their respective instruments, and their third mini album, “In a million noises, I’ll be your harmony,” features their greatest contributions to the songwriting process yet. Chodan, Hina, Magenta, and Siyeon all wrote lyrics for “Dear,” the lead single, and lent a helping hand on the other tracks, too. “Yours Sincerely,” which closes out the mini album, holds the special distinction of being the first song that the entire group worked together on both the music and the words. It represents a remarkable leap forward from their past albums, where the girls had few songwriting credits.

All of that was born from their chaotic crusade to write their own music and the result of that effort, “Youth Promise.” They documented their process in a YouTube series where they put it all on the line and challenged criticism against them by directly referencing comments like, “A band that doesn’t write songs? Lame.” The move can be seen as similar to when they dealt with accusations about them pretending to play their instruments head on by pointing cameras at all their instruments at Pentaport. Nobody but QWER could pull off things like this. In all these ways and more, the members of the band have steadily been improving their musical chops, which then feeds directly into the music they make in a virtuous cycle.

The fact that they’ve reached this new high in their career isn’t just a testament to the growth and coalescence of their fandom but to all four members of QWER putting in the effort to become a band that people believe in and find worthwhile to listen to. They now come across as truly accomplished artists in their many live shows, performing like seasoned musicians and covering for any technical difficulties.

True to self in name and image

To get back to the original question, what’s made QWER so popular? Their rise seems to be a part of the ongoing rock craze, but their case is also a bit different.

Let’s take a bit of a closer look at the band boom in Korea. What’s happening lately isn’t so much influenced by US or European pop as it is rooted in J-pop. The J-pop wave that swept Korea in 2023 brought a variety of rock music with it, including from bands like 10-FEET, ONE OK ROCK, RADWIMPS, and King Gnu. The distinctive J-pop rock sound and its refreshing, youthful vibes resonated with many people hearing them in Shorts and Reels. Egg Kim was similarly heavily inspired by this Japanese subculture when he envisioned creating a band of his own that would go on to become QWER—a perfect match for what listeners were craving.

But is that all there is to it? QWER’s success is partly attributed to the clever strategies of creator Egg Kim, who also functions as their creative director. The members of the band already had their own fans from their personal endeavors by the time they came together, not to mention Egg Kim’s own fans, all of which came together to propel videos of the “OSHI NO GIRLS” project to the top of trending video charts. Before they ever properly debuted, they were sharing the whole recruitment and onboarding process on YouTube and through livestreams, especially from Chodan and Magenta. Their personal fans naturally flocked to support QWER in turn, and it was all made possible thanks to Egg Kim’s extensive experience in creating YouTube content. In essence, QWER pioneered a new paradigm for forming a musical group and proved its viability.

With the release of their third mini album, “In a million noises, I’ll be your harmony,” in June, QWER has since shifted gears, including taking the new step of making their first-ever appearance on a music show. And while they were already models for Mountain Dew since last year, they’ve since bolstered their identity as a band by putting out a song for the campaign called “PLAY, WE, DEW.”

Unlike their focus on gaming ads in 2024, QWER has been the face of Woori Bank’s youth-first TeenTeen service this year, proving just how popular the band’s become with teenagers.

There’s no question QWER’s leaving a distinct mark on the world of music right now. They’re the first to really pioneer in the untapped niche market for all-woman bands. Though the journey hasn’t been without its setbacks, they’ve remained steadfast all throughout. On the contrary, they’ve taken it all in stride as opportunities for growth and to move forward. Just like they sing in “Youth Promise,” “Even if the uncertainty of night falls, I’ll keep smiling like always.”

But that’s not all. QWER’s story is truly unique when you consider all the hard work they’ve put in and how much they’ve grown. Magenta spent less than a year learning bass but made incredible strides through sheer dedication. Siyeon never quite had her chance to shine during her time in NMB48 but today is the lead singer of QWER. Hina might be the youngest member of the band, but she proved adept at piecing ideas together and mediating conflicts when they set out to write their own music. Chodan overcame her stage fright so that she not only sings but even performs simple choreography during concerts. They’re all moving forward thanks to being in QWER. And this, in essence, is the ideal growth-driven band that QWER strives to be.