all-kill

In K-pop, an all-kill is when a song hits number one on all of South Korea’s major music charts at the same time. It is one of the clearest signs that a release is a nationwide hit, not just popular with one fandom.

What does all-kill mean?

South Korea has several big streaming services, such as Melon, Genie and Bugs, each with its own chart. Topping one is good. Topping all of them at once is an all-kill. The achievement is tracked by iChart, a site run by the community Instiz that combines these charts in one place.

Types of all-kill

• Real-time all-kill (RAK): number one on all of iChart’s real-time charts.
• Certified all-kill (CAK): number one on all of iChart’s real-time and daily charts.
• Perfect all-kill (PAK): number one on the real-time, daily and weekly iChart rankings at the same time. This is the hardest and most celebrated.

How to use it

• “Two hours after release and it already has an all-kill.”
• “That’s their third perfect all-kill this year.”
• “Fans are streaming nonstop trying to get a PAK.”
• “It didn’t all-kill, but it charted at number one on Melon.”

Why fans care

Korean streaming charts are seen as a measure of how much the general public, not just devoted fans, is listening. That makes an all-kill, and especially a perfect all-kill, a bragging point. When a release gets one, fans often trend congratulation hashtags and share chart screenshots.

Related terms

• stan: a devoted fan, often the ones streaming
• bias: your favorite member
• fanchant: the chant fans shout during a song
• daebak: Korean for “awesome,” a typical reaction
• fan cam: fan-shot performance video

See more terms like this in our K-pop slang dictionary.