"A monumental moment" - Fans react as NCT's Jaehyun takes his first win on Music Core as a solo artist for 'Smoke'

On Saturday, September 7, following the latest broadcast of MBC's Show! Music Core, it was revealed that NCT Jaehyun's Smoke bagged its first win. This also marks the K-pop idol's first win as a solo artist, and fans have been heavily celebrating the same. The idol's latest track, Smoke, competed against two other K-pop comebacks, G(I)-DLE's Klaxon and ZEROBASEONE's Good So Bad.

G(I)-DLE's Klaxon garnered 5213 points while ZEROBASEONE's Good So Bad accumulated 5988 points. Surpassing both the artists' comebacks, NCT Jaehyun's Smoke stood with a total of 6806 points. The winners of MBC's Show! Music Core is selected through a point system gathered from various sources to qualify the comeback's performance.

These include the number of broadcasts, digital sales, live votes on the Mubeat app during the Music Core broadcast, physical sales based on the Gaon album chart, pre-votes on the Mubeat app, views on YouTube and other social media platforms of the music video, and finally a survey from the viewer committed which is randomly sent to 2000 MBC accounts.

Since this point system gives an in-depth understanding of a comeback's performance on both provincial and global levels, fans cheer and celebrate loudly for their artists who bag events at this weekly MBC broadcast. Therefore, Jaehyun's win became the talk of the town among netizens, and they showered the idol with congratulatory messages and praises.

Here are a few reactions to NCT Jaehyun's first win at the MBC Show! Music Core as a soloist:

"A monumental moment"

"Congratulations JAEHYUN on the well-deserved win!Smoke’ is such a masterpiece! So proud of you" said a fan on X

"he managed to bag a win with literally everything possible going wrong in this promo period. I'm so proud of him and his hardwork, he will surely continue to shine" added another fan on X

"FIRST WIN BEING FOR THE MAJOR MUSIC SHOWS WELL YESSSSSSS" said a netizen on X

More netizens proudly talked about the idol's win and congratulated him.

"the fact that jaehyun is the first nct member to win on music core, which is a music show that is hard to get a trophy for, is so amazing" said a fan on X

"The way his whole album is good beginning to end very much deserved. I can’t wait fir my physical copy to arrive" added another fan on X

"LETS GOOOOOO SO DESERVED" said a netizen on X

"WE GOT IT CHAT CONGRATULATIONSS" said another fan on X

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All you need to know about NCT Jaehyun's solo career and his latest comeback, J

Jaehyun or Jeong Yun-o is a 27-year-old K-pop idol who debuted alongside his fellow NCT members in 2016 under SM Entertainment. The idol is a member of the group's fixed unit, NCT 127, and also recently made his debut through another NCT unit, NCT DOJAEJUNG, that debuted in early 2023.

The idol's position in these units is lead dancer, main vocalist, and lead rapper. Apart from his projects as an NCT member, the idol has also established a solo career for himself. He has previously released many solo tracks, such as Try Again, Forever Only, and Horizon. However, he officially embarked on his solo career by releasing his first mini-album, J.

Before the album's release, the idol released a single album consisting of two songs, Dandelions and Roses. While fans were already impressed with the album's trajectory, the release of J further pumped fans' excitement for Jaehyun's career as a soloist. The album holds a total of eight songs, including the two pre-release singles.

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The album's title track, Smoke, also came in an English version. The other songs on the album are Flamin' Hot Lemon, Completely, Easy, and Can't Get You. While the album was well-received by fans and netizens, people are also elated to find the milestones the idol's been making through his solo debut.