Stray Kids and Jimin Make K-Pop History on Album Charts

Courtesy of JYP Entertainment

Stray Kids and Jimin make history on the Billboard 200 this week with their respective projects “Ate” and “Muse” debuting at Nos. 1 and 2, marking the first time that K-pop acts have held the top two positions.

Stray Kids make further history with “Ate,” becoming the first-ever group to debut at No. 1 with their first five charting albums. The sole other artist to accomplish the same five-streak feat was DMX. “Ate” earns 232,000 equivalent album units, according to Luminate, marking the biggest week for a K-pop album in 2024 and the sixth biggest debut for an album released this year. “Ate” got a boost from its 11 CD variants, and had the second-largest sales week of any album this year behind Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”

BTS member Jimin bows at No. 2 with “Muse,” marking his second solo album to land in that spot following last year’s “Face.” “Muse,” which had nine CD variants, arrives with 96,000 equivalent album units, and is led by the singles “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” featuring Loco and “Who.”

“Twisters: The Album” also has a notable entry on the Billboard 200 this week, bowing at No. 7 on the chart with 57,000 equivalent album units. It marks the first soundtrack album to crack the top 10 this year thanks to the film’s strong launch at the box office and a star-studded tracklist featuring country singers Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll and more. “Twisters: The Album” also has the biggest week thus far in 2024 for any soundtrack, and becomes the first country soundtrack to reach the top 10 in a decade.

Eminem’s “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce),” which had a notable debut last week in ending Swift’s run at No. 1, drops to the third slot on the chart, while “Tortured Poets” comes in behind it. Further down in the top 10 are Chappell Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” at No. 8, followed by Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season.”

Shaboozey, meanwhile, is making a strong case for song of summer with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which returns to No. 1 on the Hot 100 for its third week atop the chart. Teddy Swims reaches his own milestone with “Lose Control,” which now ties for the 10th-most weeks spent in the top 10 for any song this decade.

Otherwise, there’s little other movement on the Hot 100, as Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” round out the top five.

Source: Variety