How "Super Tuna" became way bigger than Jin ever planned

"Super Tuna" is probably the only Jin song whose success he actually tried to stop. It was released on December 4, 2021, his birthday, as a fun little gift for ARMY. It ran just over a minute, was about fishing and tuna, and came with choreography that was almost impossible to watch without smiling. Jin clearly hadn't counted on that small birthday goof turning into a viral hit.

The song grew out of his genuine love of fishing. Jin made it with producer BUMZU, who he'd go fishing with, and he never approached it as a serious solo project. The idea was just to make something fun and silly about a hobby he loves. The lyrics call out to tuna and other fish, while the music sounds like something that could easily play on the most cheerful boat trip imaginable.

An official performance video shot on a beach in Los Angeles came out alongside the song. Wearing a t-shirt with a fish drawn on it, Jin performs simple choreography with moves mimicking swimming and fishing, and that dance turned out to be the key to everything that followed. ARMY very quickly started filming their own versions, and the "Super Tuna Challenge" spread across TikTok and other social media.

Jin's reaction was maybe even funnier than the song itself. Once he realized how popular "Super Tuna" had become, he practically begged ARMY on Weverse to stop with the challenge because he was embarrassed. He joked that if the song kept doing this well, the company might ask him to make a second verse. Naturally, that just gave the fandom another reason to keep going.

The song didn't stay confined to ARMY, either. Other artists, kids, and all kinds of social media users started doing the challenge, and the short little fishing song kept racking up millions of views. Jin had made something meant to be a one-off birthday joke, and the internet decided to turn it into an actual hit.

The best sequel to the story came in 2024. After returning from the military, Jin performed an extended version of "Super Tuna" during FESTA and revealed exactly what he'd joked about fearing years earlier, the song had gotten a new part. That October, the official full version arrived too, along with a new video.

Even then, Jin didn't try to turn "Super Tuna" into a serious song. It stayed fish, fishing, dancing, and the same goofy humor that made the original so beloved. The song he'd released in 2021 as a little birthday bit got a whole new release and another life, three years later.

We've linked the official "Super Tuna" Special Video from 2024 alongside this article, since it shows best just how far a song Jin originally thought of as a small birthday joke ended up going. The 2021 original kicked off the whole story, and the new version is basically its perfect sequel.

Turns out Jin's biggest problem with "Super Tuna" was making a song way too catchy for his own good. He wanted to give ARMY something funny for his birthday, and in return, ARMY didn't let him forget about it for years. 🐟