RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Stray Kids’ This & That puts K-pop back in a familiar spot — No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. The EP is the 25th album or EP by a K-pop act to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s flagship albums chart in just over eight years. The first was BTS’ Love Yourself: Tear in June 2018.
Stray Kids has amassed nine No. 1 titles on the Billboard 200, which puts them out front among K-pop acts. BTS is second, with seven No. 1 titles. ATEEZ is next in line with three No. 1s. SuperM , BLACKPINK , TOMORROW X TOGETHER , NewJeans and TWICE have all notched one No. 1 to date. In addition, one multi-artist K-pop soundtrack, KPop Demon Hunters , has reached No. 1.
For all their success on the Billboard 200, Stray Kids have yet to crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their highest-charting single on that chart, “Chk Chk Boom,” debuted and peaked at No. 49 in August 2024.
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Stray Kids Score Ninth No. 1 on Billboard 200 With ‘THIS & THAT’
This & That is the second K-pop project to reach No. 1 since the Recording Academy announced on June 16 that it is adding a new category , best Asian pop music performance, for the 69th annual Grammy Awards, set for Feb. 7. Eligible recordings include contemporary popular music originating from or widely recognized within Asian markets, including K-pop, J-pop and C-pop. The Academy announced on Aug. 14 that it was having discussions about the future of the category , which was met with unanticipated criticism from some in the K-pop community.
BLACKPINK was the first female K-pop act to land a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. They scored with Born Pink in 2022.
K-pop groups tend to be large ensembles. TWICE has nine members, one more than Stray Kids and ATEEZ. BTS and SuperM each have seven members. TOMORROW X TOGETHER and NewJeans each have five members. BLACKPINK has four members. To date, no K-pop solo artists, duos or trios have topped the Billboard 200.
There have been multiple No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 by K-pop acts in every year since 2018 except for 2021, when there were none. The peak year (to date) for most No. 1 K-pop albums on the Billboard 200 was 2023, when there were five. Here’s a list of all K-pop albums to top the Billboard 200. They are listed in chronological order.
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