True Taste Korea

Dracula

  • How Did Jennie’s “Dracula” Become the No. 1 Song on U.S. Radio?

    JENNIE has already proved that she can sell albums, dominate streaming platforms and turn songs into viral hits.

    But her latest achievement with Tame Impala may be different.

    “Dracula” has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Radio Songs chart, which measures audience reach across U.S. radio stations and formats.

    It is the first Radio Songs No. 1 for both JENNIE and Tame Impala.

    And that raises a more interesting question:

    How did a Tame Impala song featuring a BLACKPINK member become the most-heard song on American radio?

    “Dracula” reached 62.6 million radio listeners

    According to Billboard and Luminate, “Dracula” drew an estimated 62.6 million U.S. radio audience impressions during the September 11–17 tracking period.

    That pushed the song from No. 2 to No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart dated September 26.

    This is not simply another K-pop fandom record.

    Radio Songs is different from charts driven heavily by purchases, streams or concentrated fan activity.

    For a song to climb this high, it needs sustained airplay across American radio.

    And “Dracula” did not reach the top overnight.

    It entered Radio Songs at No. 49 in April and gradually climbed through the rankings before finally reaching No. 1.

    That slow rise may actually be the most interesting part of the story.

    The song existed before JENNIE joined it

    There is another unusual detail.

    “Dracula” was originally released by Tame Impala as a solo song in October 2025.

    The version featuring JENNIE arrived months later, in February 2026.

    Instead of behaving like a typical K-pop comeback that explodes immediately and then begins to fall, “Dracula” kept building momentum.

    The collaboration gave the song a new audience.

    Short-form video helped expand its visibility.

    Then radio picked it up.

    And instead of disappearing after a few weeks, it kept climbing.

    By July, “Dracula” had already reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart, which tracks mainstream Top 40 radio.

    It later topped Adult Pop Airplay as well.

    Now it has gone one step further by reaching No. 1 on the broader, all-format Radio Songs chart.

    Why does the radio achievement matter?

    K-pop is already enormous in the United States.

    But American radio has historically been a different challenge.

    A dedicated global fandom can generate huge streaming numbers, buy albums and organize downloads immediately after a release.

    Radio works differently.

    Listeners do not choose every song themselves.

    Stations decide what to put into rotation, and songs often need to prove that they can appeal beyond an artist’s core fanbase.

    That is why “Dracula” reaching No. 1 is worth paying attention to.

    It suggests the song has moved beyond being something only BLINKs or existing JENNIE fans actively seek out.

    Millions of Americans may now hear JENNIE while driving to work, sitting in a café or simply turning on the radio — even if they were never searching for K-pop.

    It is also a major Hot 100 hit

    The radio success is not happening in isolation.

    “Dracula” has returned to its peak of No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving both JENNIE and Tame Impala their first Top 10 hit on the chart.

    The song is also continuing long runs at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts.

    That combination is unusual.

    A song connected to psychedelic rock, alternative music, dance music and one of K-pop’s biggest stars is simultaneously finding a home on mainstream American radio.

    And perhaps that crossover is exactly why “Dracula” has lasted.

    JENNIE’s previous Radio Songs peak was No. 48

    The scale of the jump becomes clearer when compared with JENNIE’s previous performance.

    Her earlier Radio Songs appearance came with “One of the Girls,” her collaboration with The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp.

    That song peaked at No. 48 in 2024.

    “Dracula” has now taken her all the way to No. 1.

    Even BLACKPINK as a group has not yet entered the Radio Songs chart, according to Billboard.

    So this is not simply another No. 1 to add to JENNIE’s list.

    It represents success in an area where K-pop’s enormous global popularity has not always translated as easily.

    So why did “Dracula” become so big?

    There probably is not one single reason.

    Tame Impala brought an established alternative audience.

    JENNIE brought enormous global recognition.

    Short-form video gave the collaboration another route to discovery.

    And months of steady radio growth allowed the song to reach people far beyond either artist’s most dedicated fans.

    That may be the real story behind “Dracula.”

    It did not become America’s No. 1 radio song in one dramatic week.

    It kept growing.

    From a Tame Impala solo release…

    to a JENNIE collaboration…

    to a viral crossover hit…

    and finally to the top of U.S. radio.

    For JENNIE, No. 1 is impressive.

    But how she got there may be even more important than the number itself.

  • JENNIE Just Broke a BTS Billboard Record—And She Did It Without a BLACKPINK Song

    BLACKPINK’s JENNIE has another major Billboard record.

    But here’s the twist:

    She didn’t do it with a BLACKPINK song.

    Tame Impala’s “Dracula” remix featuring JENNIE has now spent 16 weeks inside the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10, the longest Top 10 run for a song by or featuring a K-pop artist.

    That takes it past BTS’ “Butter,” which previously held the record with 15 weeks.

    And perhaps the most interesting part of the story is how “Dracula” got there.

    JENNIE Passed “Butter” With 16 Weeks in the Top 10

    On the latest Billboard Hot 100, “Dracula” remained at No. 6, giving the song its 16th week in the Top 10.

    BTS’ 2021 megahit “Butter” had held the previous K-pop benchmark with 15 weeks.

    “Dracula” has also climbed as high as No. 5, making it JENNIE’s highest-charting Hot 100 entry to date.

    That alone is a huge achievement.

    But this isn’t a typical BLACKPINK success story.

    “Dracula” Wasn’t Originally JENNIE’s Song

    Here’s where things get more interesting.

    “Dracula” originally arrived as a Tame Impala solo track in October 2025.

    Months later, a remix featuring JENNIE was released in February 2026.

    Then something happened.

    The song gained new momentum on short-form video platforms, climbed the charts and eventually became one of the biggest pop hits in the U.S.

    In other words, JENNIE didn’t need a BLACKPINK comeback single to reach this particular milestone.

    She did it as a featured artist on an Australian artist’s song.

    TikTok Helped Turn “Dracula” Into Something Much Bigger

    “Dracula” also became a good example of how differently hit songs can grow today.

    The remix spread through short-form videos, including a viral trend built around people simply walking toward the camera while lip-syncing to the track.

    That online momentum was followed by increasingly impressive chart results.

    The song eventually reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, while its U.S. pop-radio success also became a story of its own.

    This wasn’t a one-week viral spike.

    It developed into a hit with staying power.

    But Fans Don’t All Agree on Why “Dracula” Became So Big

    And this is where the story gets more interesting than the record itself.

    Online discussion includes disagreement over exactly how much credit should go to JENNIE.

    Some fans see the remix as the moment that pushed the song into a much larger global audience.

    Others argue that the original Tame Impala track already had viral potential before JENNIE joined it. One Reddit discussion, for example, strongly disputed the idea that JENNIE alone was responsible for the song’s success.

    The chart record itself isn’t in dispute.

    The interpretation of why the song became this big is.

    And perhaps that’s what makes “Dracula” such an unusual K-pop Billboard story.

    This Record Says Something Bigger About JENNIE

    For years, BLACKPINK’s global success has been discussed primarily through the group.

    But JENNIE’s recent chart performance shows another side of that story.

    A BLACKPINK member can collaborate with an artist outside K-pop, enter a completely different musical space and still generate major mainstream U.S. chart results.

    “Dracula” reached No. 5.

    It stayed in the Top 10 for 16 weeks.

    And it surpassed the Top 10 longevity record previously held by one of the biggest K-pop hits ever: BTS’ “Butter.”

    The most surprising detail?

    It wasn’t even a BLACKPINK song.

    That may be exactly why this record is worth paying attention to.