South Korean boy band Stray Kids (credit JYP Entertainment).
Stray Kids are back at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 once again, but not with their recent champion. The South Korean boy band debuts their new EP Maxident, which opens in first place on the tally with 117,000 equivalent units shifted. The bulk of that figure–110,000 copies–are pure sales, which shows that fans of the group are eager to open their wallets and purchase anything released by the outfit.
Maxident is Stray Kids’ second No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Billboard’s weekly ranking of the most-consumed albums and EPs in the U.S. Impressively, while several earlier releases by Stray Kids have impacted a handful of Billboard charts, such as the Top Album Sales and World Albums lists, none have reached the Billboard 200 without going straight to the summit. By snagging another winner, the group has made history and joined the most successful name from their home country in a very special club.
Stray Kids are now just the second South Korean musical act of any kind to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 more than once. They landed their first leader earlier this year, back in April, when Oddinary opened on the throne with 110,000 copies moved. Now, Maxident not only makes them two-time winners, but it outperformed its predecessor, meaning the band is becoming more and more successful with every passing release.
The only other South Korean act to reach the summit on the Billboard 200 more than once is BTS, who have done so on several occasions. The septet became the first K-pop group to rule over the competitive tally back in June of 2018. The globally-successful band has now sent half a dozen titles to the peak of the chart, easily outpacing any other name from South Korea. Their discography now includes the No. 1s Love Yourself: Tear, Love Yourself: Answer, Map of the Soul: Persona, Map of the Soul: 7, Be, and Proof, which conquered the tally back in June of this year.
It’s not common for any act to land several No. 1 albums in a calendar year, and that kind of success is typically reserved for the biggest stars in the music industry. The most recent artist to manage the feat (before Stray Kids) was Taylor Swift, who actually claimed three different chart-toppers in 2021, as Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), and Red (Taylor’s Version), which all spent at least one turn atop the tally.
When Stray Kids first hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 earlier this year, they became the third K-pop act to do so, following in the footsteps of BTS and SuperM. In between their initial success and this latest one, they have also been joined in this feat by Blackpink, whose sophomore album Born Pink dominated the ranking in early October.
Hugh McIntyre, Contributor
Source link
