Fuse TV names WINNER among top 13 breakout artists

Alongside the likes of Sam Smith, who shares a three-way tie with the year’s most Grammy Awards nods at six, and Meghan Trainor whose fame skyrocketed internationally after the release of her Grammy-nominated single “All About the Bass,” the YG Entertainment newbie members of WINNER have been named one of the world’s top breakout artists of the year by U.S. cable music program Fuse TV.

At the No. 11 spot on Fuse’s “13 Top Breakout Artists of 2014” rankings, the five-member rookie K-pop sensations show no signs of stopping their monstrous debut year, having already topped a number of international music charts after the release of the group’s highly anticipated first album, “S/S,” just four months ago.

“After winning the South Korean reality competition show ‘Who Is Next: WIN,’ the K-pop boy band has since lived up to their name,” wrote music writer Jeff Benjamin on Fuse TV’s online post. “The quintet was K-pop’s international breakout as their debut album 2014 ‘S/S’ hit No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart and went Top 10 on the Heatseekers Album chart ― the latter being a rare ranking for any Korean act, much less a completely new act.”

Another YG project act that managed to infiltrate one of Fuse’s recent rankings list is Big Bang megastars G-Dragon and Taeyang’s project duo. In a hodgepodge of a list that included songs by internationally renowned artists such as Coldplay, Maroon 5, Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, Beyonce and many more, the Big Bang duo landed themselves at the No. 11 spot on the cable channel’s “41 Best Songs of 2014,” with “Good Boy.”

“Even if your friends are K-pop skeptics, play them this song,” wrote Benjamin. “You’ll thank us later.”

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)