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Rising stars of K-pop NCT DREAM achieved a milestone with their new winter song Candy, which was digitally released on December 16, 2022.
The song topped Melon's Top 100 chart within a day of its release, making them the third boy band to achieve the feat this year. BTS and BIGBANG are the other two boy bands to take the No.1 spot with their songs Yet to Come and Still Life respectively.
Candy also broke into the top 10 on Melon’s 24Hits chart within 24 hours, to claim the 9th spot following the likes of BIGBANG and BTS earlier this year.
Apart from dominating domestic charts, the song also fared well internationally, topping iTunes charts in 16 countries all over the world.
NCT DREAM achieves new highs with Candy album sales
Triple million seller NCT DREAM proved its selling power once again by achieving new highs with their comeback. Anticipation for Candy among fans was high as it sold over two million copies in pre-orders.
The physical version of the album was released on December 19, 2022. According to data released by Hanteo, the group surpassed its own record by selling over 761,609 copies on the first day of release. Their earlier release, Glitch Mode, recorded over 703,700 units in first-day sales.
Candy is the group's first-ever holiday release. It contains a title track of the same name, which is a remake of a popular H.O.T. song, as well as B-sides Tangerine Love, Take My Breath, Moon, Walk With You, and Graduation.
Fans react to NCT DREAM'S nostalgic b-side graduation
The seven-member group had their first official comeback performance at the 2022 KBS Song Festival. They also performed on MBC’s Music Core, giving their fans a treat.
However, fans were quick to notice that group members Haechan and Renjun were brought to tears while performing Graduation on Music Core.
For the unversed, the word graduation has a special meaning for NCT DREAM, whose members were originally meant to graduate out of the group once they turn 19 (international age.)
Though the system was discontinued, the members said during promotions that their new song will create a new positive meaning for the word and help them "graduate from graduation."
Fans reacted emotionally to the track as 2022 would be the year all the original members would have graduated if the system stayed. Praising the band's intentions behind the song, they took to Twitter to share their favorite lyrics from the sentimental song.
One fan described it as a "bittersweet song," while another said it felt like a "coming-of-age" story.
Despite being a b-side track, Graduation quickly grew to be a fan favorite for the nostalgic sentiment attached to it and surpassed 90,000 real-time listeners on Melon.
