| K-pop girl group Kep1er / Courtesy of Wake One Entertainment, Swing Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop rookies Kep1er grabbed the No. 1 spot on a Korean music show for the first time Thursday, only 11 days after debuting.
The girl group, which consists of the nine winners from Mnet's audition program, "Girls Planet 999," bagged their first trophy on Mnet's M Countdown with their debut track, "Wa Da Da."
"We are so thankful to our fans for supporting and loving us since the launch of Girls Planet 999," Kep1er said in their acceptance speech. "We will continue to try our best not to fail you, so that you can be proud of us… This is just the beginning of our journey, so please look forward to it."
The song is the lead single off the group's debut album, "First Impact" that hit shelves Jan. 3. It is an upbeat dance tune of the big room house genre, sprinkled with an addictive refrain.
According to the Hanteo Chart, "First Impact" sold more than 200,000 copies during the first week of its release ― the highest record for any K-pop girl group's debut album. It also ranked first on iTunes album charts in 11 countries including Japan, Thailand and India.
Kep1er is made up of Yujin, Mashiro, Xiaoting, Chaeh-yun, Da-yeon, Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih, Young-eun and Ye-seo. Its group name is a combination of the word "kep" and number "1."