K-pop superstars Stray Kids and Jimin make a splash atop the Billboard 200 (dated Aug. 3), as the acts’ latest albums,ATEandMUSE, debut at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. In turn, it marks the first time the top two on the Billboard 200 are K-pop (Korean pop) albums.
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Further,ATElands Stray Kids their fifth No. 1 in a row, making the act the first groupeverto debut at No. 1 with their first five charting albums. They previously opened atop the chart withODDINARY,MAXIDENT(both in 2022),ROCK-STARand5-STAR(both in 2023).
The only other artist to debut at No. 1 withitsfirst five chart entries was rapper DMX in 1998-2003 withIt’s Dark and Hell Is Hot(1998),Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood(1999),…And Then There Was X(2000),The Great Depression(2001) andGrand Champ(2003).
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ATEarrives with 231,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 25, according to Luminate. That’s the largest week of 2024 for any K-pop album, and the sixth-biggest debut for any album this year.MUSEmoves in with 96,000 units, and givesBTSmemberJimin his second solo album to reach No. 2 (after last year’sFACE).
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, theTwisterssoundtrack debuts at No. 7 with 57,000 equivalent album units earned. The country music-heavy album is the first soundtrack to reach the top 10 in 2024, and it does so with the year’s biggest week, by units earned, for any soundtrack. Further, it’s the first country soundtrack from a theatrical film to reach the top 10 in over a decade.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 3, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full onBillboard‘s website on July 30. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
OfATE’s 231,000 first-week units, album sales comprise 217,000, SEA units comprise 13,000 (equaling 19.05 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000. With 218,000 copies sold,ATEis the top-selling album of the week, debuting at No. 1 on Top Album Sales.It alsonetsthe 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’sThe Tortured Poets Department).ATE’s sales were bolstered by its availability across 11 different CD variants, all containing collectible items like photocards, stickers and posters (some of which was randomized), including signed editions, as well as variants exclusive to Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart.
AsATEis mostly in the Korean language, it is the 25th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1, and the second of 2024. On the March 9-dated chart, TWICE’sWith YOU-thgarnered the group its first leader when it opened at No. 1. Of the 25 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 16 aremostly Korean, five mostly (or all) Spanish, onemostly Italian, one entirely French, and two mostly a blend of Spanish, Italian and French. Of the 25almostallnon-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 21havetopped the chart since 2018 (the yearthatK-pop superstars BTS scoredtheirfirst of six No. 1s, with the chart’s first Korean-language No. 1s). Further, of the 16 K-pop albums that have reached No. 1, Stray Kids and BTS account for 11(five and six, respectively).
Speaking of BTS,the group’s Jimin sees his latest solo projectMUSEbow 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. In 2023, Jimin’s first solo charting set,FACE, debuted and peaked at No. 2.
MUSEwas preceded by the Billboard Hot 100-charting “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band”(with Loco),which debuted at No. 88 on the July 13-dated list.
Eminem’sThe Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)falls to No. 3 in its second week with 79,000 equivalent album units earned (down 72%) after debuting at No. 1 a week ago. Swift’s former leaderThe Tortured Poets Departmentis a non-mover at No. 4 with 74,000 units (down 9%); Zach Bryan’sThe Great American Bar Sceneslips 3-5 with 71,000 (down 19%); and Morgan Wallen’s chart-toppingOne Thing at a Timedips 5-6 with 65,000 (down 2%).
Twisters: The Albumdebuts at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 57,000 equivalent album units earned — marking the first soundtrack the reach the top 10 in 2024 and the year’s biggest week, by units, for any soundtrack. 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 to purchase a digital download, CD and in three vinyl variants) and TEA units comprise 3,000.
Thecountry music-heavyproject is the companion album to the filmTwisters, which blew into U.S. movie theaters on July 19. The film is astandalonesequel to 1996’sTwister, which boasted a rock-focused soundtrack (peaking at No. 28 on the Billboard 200).
TheTwistersalbum features a wealth of new original material from country starsincludingLuke Combs,Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambertand 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”). Twenty of the album’s 29 songs appear in the movie, and over half of the album’s tracks were released over the course of the 10 weeks leading up to the set’s drop on July 19.
Twistersis the first country soundtrack to reach the top 10 since the Jan. 4, 2014-dated chart, when The Robertsons’ TV soundtrackDuck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmasclosed out its last week in the top 10, having peaked at No. 3 the previous November. As for country soundtracksto theatrical films, likeTwisters, the last to reach the top 10 wasCountry Strong, which peaked at No. 6 on the Jan. 29, 2011,chart. The last country soundtrack from a theatrical film to debut in the top 10, likeTwisters, wasHannah Montana: The Movie, which bowed at No. 2 on the April 11, 2009,chart, later reaching No. 1 on the May 2 list. (Soundtrack and country albums are defined as those that are eligible for, or have charted on,Billboard’s Soundtracks and Top Country Albums charts, respectively.)
Closing out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 is Chappell Roan’sThe Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess(falling 7-8 with 54,000 equivalent album units; up less than 1%), Billie Eilish’sHit Me Hard and Soft(6-9 with nearly 54,000; down 5%), and Noah Kahan’sStick Season(holding at No. 10 with 43,000; up 10%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to theBillboardcharts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership withBillboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
UPDATE (June 29):This article has been updated to reflect newly processed data from Luminate.
