161017 ‘WINGS’ Sets New U.S. Record for Highest-Charting, Best-Selling K-Pop Album
BTS’ new album Wings is flying high above all previous K-pop records on the Billboard 200.
The Korean boy band’s second full-length album debuts at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 chart with 16,000 units earned in the week ending Oct. 13, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 11,000 were in traditional album sales.
Those figures mark the best week ever for a K-pop album. Previously, 2NE1‘sCrush held the highest chart rank for a K-pop act (No. 61 with the 2014 albumCrush) and EXO logged the best sales frame (6,000 sold in the first week for 2015'sExodus).
BTS is now the first K-pop act to log three entries on the Billboard 200 after sending their EP The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 to No. 171 in December 2015, and compilation album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever to No. 107 in May. Previously, the band had been tied with G-Dragon, who also had two entries on the ranking. To date, less than a dozen K-pop acts have sent albums to the Billboard 200.
Since their debut, BTS has stood out in the K-pop scene for tackling social and society issues in their music. Wings takes that dedication a step further by delving into the more complex issues in their young-adult lives including tackling mental health (see the sample-heavy “Am I Wrong”), taking digs at the Korean-pop idol scene (on the aggressive “2! 3!”), and even deliver a female-empowerment anthem (“21st Century Girls”), all over bombastic, hard-hitting hip-hop-heavy dance beats.
The band’s accessibility is probably best felt in the lead single “Blood Sweat & Tears” that brings lyrics of a life-altering relationship with a Major Lazer-esque beat that one would expect Justin Bieber to jump on these days.
Wings rules over multiple Billboard charts this week. This includes BTS scoring their second No. 1 on the World Albums chart (extending their reign as the K-pop act with the most weeks at No. 1 on the tally to five weeks), and all 15 Wings tracks debut on the World Digital Songs chart with “Blood Sweat & Tears” earning the band their second No. 1 on the chart. The BTS fervor is even reaching Canada, as Wings hits No. 16 on the Canadian Albums chart, besting K-pop’s previous highest ranking on that chart, also set by BTS, when the Young Forever album peaked at No. 99.
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