Stray Kids and BTS’s Jimin have scored a stellar week for K-pop on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Aug. 3), with their latest albums “ATE” and “MUSE” debuting at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. This marks the first time in billboard history when the top two spots on the Billboard 200 are occupied by K-pop albums.
“ATE” gives Stray Kids their fifth consecutive No. 1 album, making them the first group ever to debut at No. 1 with their first five charting albums. They previously topped the chart with “ODDINARY” and “MAXIDENT” (both in 2022), as well as “ROCK-STAR” and “5-STAR” (both in 2023).
The only other artist to achieve five consecutive No. 1 debuts with their first five chart entries was rapper DMX, who did so between 1998 and 2003.
“ATE” arrives with 232,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 25, according to Luminate. This is the largest week of 2024 for any K-pop album and the sixth-biggest debut for any album this year.
Meanwhile, Jimin’s “MUSE” debuts with 96,000 units, giving the beloved BTS member his second solo album to reach No. 2. His first solo album “FACE,” which came out last year, also debuted at No. 2.
Eminem’s “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)” falls to No. 3 in its second week with 79,000 equivalent album units earned (down 72%). The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 281,000 units (114,000 pure sales), and became the first album to dethrone Taylor Swift out of the top spot after twelve weeks.
The Death of Slim Shady was Eminem’s 11th No.1 album on the Billboard 200 as the “Rap God” singer is now tied with Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and Ye (formerly Kanye West) for the fifth-most No. 1s on the Billboard 200. Ahead of them are The Beatles (a record of 19 No. 1s), Jay-Z and Taylor Swift (each with 14) and Drake (13).
Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” remains steady at No. 4 with 74,000 units (down 9%), while Zach Bryan’s “The Great American Bar Scene” slips out of the Top 3 and to the fifth spot earning 71,000 units this week (down 19%).
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping “One Thing at a Time” is at the 6th spot with 65,000 equivalent units (down 2%).
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, the soundtrack of “Twisters” starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, which is currently in theatres, debuts at No. 7 with 57,000 equivalent album units earned. This country music-heavy album is the first soundtrack to reach the top 10 in 2024, and it does so earning the year’s biggest week for any soundtrack. It is also the first country soundtrack from a theatrical film to reach the top 10 in over a decade.
Of that sum, SEA units comprise 40,000 (equaling 52.85 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 29 songs), album sales comprise 14,000 (it was available as a digital download, CD, and in three vinyl variants), and TEA units comprise 3,000.
The “Twisters” album features a wealth of new original material from country stars including Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, and Lainey Wilson, and was preceded by three charting hits on the Hot Country Songs chart (Combs’ “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma,” Bailey Zimmerman’s “Hell or High Water,” and Tyler Childers’ “Song While You’re Away”).
The last country soundtrack from a theatrical film to debut in the top 10, like “Twisters,” was “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” which bowed at No. 2 on the April 11, 2009, chart, later reaching No. 1 on the May 2 list.
Meanwhile, of “ATE’s” 232,000 first-week units, album sales comprise 218,000, SEA units comprise 13,000 (equaling 19.05 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs), and TEA units comprise 1,000. It also nets the largest sales week for any K-pop album this year and 2024’s second-largest sales week for any album of any genre (trailing only the 1.91-million sales debut of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department”).
ATE is the 25th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1 and the second of 2024. Of the 25 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 16 are mostly Korean, five mostly (or all) Spanish, one mostly Italian, one entirely French, and two a blend of Spanish, Italian, and French. Of the 25 almost all non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 21 have topped the chart since 2018 (the year that K-pop superstars BTS scored their first of six No. 1s, with the chart’s first Korean-language No. 1). Further, of the 16 K-pop albums that have reached No. 1, Stray Kids and BTS account for 11 (five and six, respectively).
BTS’s Jimin sees his latest solo project “MUSE” debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 96,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 74,000 (aided by its availability across nine CD variants, containing collectible posters, photocards, and stickers; inclusive of exclusive editions sold at Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart), SEA units comprise 15,000, and TEA units comprise 7,000.
Closing out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 are Chappell Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” (falling 7-8 with 54,000 equivalent album units; up less than 1%), Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” (6-9 with nearly 54,000; down 5%), and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” (holding at No. 10 with 43,000; up 10%).