Three years after “Cupid” went viral, people still haven’t stopped listening.
FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid (Twin Version)” has now passed 1 billion streams on Spotify, officially entering the platform’s Billions Club.
But the billion may not be the most interesting number.
As of September 22, 2026, the song was still getting roughly 236,000 Spotify streams a day.
So why is a K-pop song released in February 2023 still being played this much more than three years later?
1. The Twin Version Was Made for Listeners Outside K-Pop
There are two main versions of “Cupid,” but international listeners largely encountered the English-language Twin Version.
It wasn’t simply the Korean song with every word translated.
The Twin Version has English lyrics and a different mix, with a strong focus on easy listening.
You don’t need to understand Korean.
You don’t need to know the members.
You don’t even need to know much about K-pop.
You can simply hear the hook once and remember it.
That turned out to be incredibly important.
2. TikTok Opened the Door
“Cupid” didn’t become a global hit through K-pop fandom alone.
The song gained momentum on TikTok, including through videos from Indonesian users, before that viral attention spread to Spotify and eventually helped fuel its global chart run.
The sped-up version became especially powerful on the platform: it ranked No. 1 among TikTok’s global popular songs in its 2023 year-end results.
But TikTok explains how people found “Cupid.”
It doesn’t completely explain why they’re still listening years later.
3. “Cupid” Escaped the K-Pop Bubble
This may be the most interesting part.
Reddit discussions around the song repeatedly point to something unusual: many listeners appear to treat “Cupid” less like a K-pop fandom song and more like an ordinary pop song.
One discussion about its billion-stream milestone argued that controversies and boycott discussions inside K-pop fandom had limited impact because much of the song’s audience was simply the general public. That’s a fan interpretation rather than measurable proof, but it helps explain the unusual longevity.
And the streaming numbers are consistent with one thing:
The song kept being played long after its original viral moment ended.
4. The Charts Disappeared. The Listeners Didn’t.
At its peak, “Cupid” was everywhere.
The song spent 25 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and 22 consecutive weeks on the UK Official Singles Chart.
Those headlines are long gone.
Yet Spotify listeners are still pressing play.
That’s the difference between a viral hit and a song with genuine staying power.
A viral song can explode for a few weeks.
An evergreen pop song finds a place in playlists long after people stop talking about why it became famous.
“Cupid” increasingly looks like the second kind.
Maybe “Cupid” Became Bigger Than FIFTY FIFTY
There is also an unusual twist to this story.
FIFTY FIFTY went through a major contract dispute after the song exploded, and today’s five-member lineup is different from the lineup associated with the original 2023 release, apart from Keena remaining with the group.
Yet “Cupid” kept streaming.
And streaming.
And streaming.
Maybe that’s the real secret behind its billion streams.
At some point, people stopped listening to “Cupid” because it was the viral K-pop song everyone was talking about.
They simply kept listening because they liked the song.
And three years later, that may be the biggest achievement of all.