K/DA

About

K/DA is a virtual K-pop group created by Riot Games and comprised of the League of Legends characters Ahri, Kai'Sa, Evelynn and Akali. The group was unveiled during the League of Legends World Championship in early November 2018 to promote the new K/DA skins for the characters.

History

On November 3rd, 2018, the League of Legends YouTube channel uploaded a music video for the song "Pop/Stars," featuring the League of Legends characters performing as a K-pop group (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video gained over 17.3 million views and 59,000 comments.

In the song, the characters Ahri and Akali are voiced by Miyeon and Soyeon respectively, both of whom are members of K-pop group (G)I-dle, whereas Evelynn and Kai'sa are voiced by American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns respectively. Accompanying the release of the song was a short story/interview going into depth regarding the group's lore.^[2]

AR Performance

The same day, augmented reality (AR) versions of the K-pop group performed on stage for the opening ceremony for the 2018 League of Legends World Championship, alongside the real-life singers (shown below).

Skins Trailer

On November 4th, 2018, the League of Legends YouTube channel uploaded a promotional trailer for the new K/DA skins (shown below). Over the next two days, the video accumulated more than 1.1 million views and 2,100 comments.

Online Presence

Also on November 4th, the K/DA music video was submitted to the /r/videos^[1] subreddit, where it received more than 31,900 points (72% upvoted) and 2,400 over the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, YouTuber Davcev uploaded footage of Twitch streamer Pokimane watching the "Pop/Stars" video (shown below, left). The following day, YouTuber Fun of Legends uploaded a video of Twitch streamer Faker reacting to the "Pop/Stars" video (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References