K-pop girl group EXID, which shot to sudden stardom with the viral hit single “Up & Down,” won its first music award at Wednesday’s fourth Gaon Chart K-Pop Award. 

“We are so thankful for such a great award. We will continue to work hard toward becoming a better team. Thank you so much,” the group wrote on its official Twitter handle, after receiving the local music chart’s “Hot Trend Award.” 

It is a particularly remarkable feat for the group, given that the group’s five members LE, Junghwa, Hani, Solji and Hyerin are neither rookies who just entered the local music scene nor artists who have always had a large fanbase.

EXID debuted in 2012 with the EP “Hippity Hop,” but largely failed in making themselves known, fading into the pool of countless new girl groups flooding the local K-pop market. The group seemed to be heading to the same fate with its latest single “Up & Down,” which didn’t get much attention when it was released last August.

It was only after a fan uploaded a video of Hani’s live performance of “Up & Down” at a military base that the group got its big break. As the video quickly spread via social media, the song suddenly climbed to the top of the nation’s major music charts, four months after its initial release.

EXID snagged the top award at various local music programs as well. The group won first place in Mnet’s “M Countdown” on Jan. 8, KBS 2TV’s “Music Bank” on Jan. 9 and SBS’ flagship music program “Inkigayo” on Jan. 11, defeating potential rivals such as Kyuhyun of Super Junior and Taeyang of Big Bang. 

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)