Rewriting K-pop History
The Korean boy band BTS has topped the US Billboard for the second time, rewriting K-Pop history.
According to the Billboard News, which introduced the latest chart on September 3, BTS’ repackage album “LOVE YOURSELF 結 ANSWER” released on August 24 was on the top of Billboard's main album chart, Billboard 200. It has been three months since BTS topped Billboard 200 last May with “LOVE YOURSELF 轉 Tear.”
Billboard said, “LOVE YOURSELF 結 ANSWER is the second top album of BTS after LOVE YOURSELF 轉 Tear. They are not only the sole K pop singers that won the first place on Billboard but also the only Korean singers with two top albums.”
It has been 12 years that a foreign language album topped Billboard 200 since the album “Ancora,” which was released by Il Divo, a 4-man member popera group, in 2006 in Spanish, Italian and French. Also, it has been four years that a single group has won Billboard 200 twice in a year, since the British boy group One Direction in 2014.
Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week based on sales, including album sales, streaming counts, and download counts. The latest chart will be posted on the website on September 5, one day later than usual, as September 3 is Labor Day.
The second place on Billboard 200 that is to be released on September 5 is Travis Scott's “Astroworld,” followed by Drake's “Scorpion” on the third place, Arianna Grande's “Sweetner” on the fourth, and Nicky Minaz's “Queen” on the fifth.
Meanwhile, foreign media outlets quickly reported the news of BTS topping Billboard 200.
Forbes of the U.S. commented regarding the repackage album LOVE YOURSELF 結 ANSWER winning the top of the Billboard's main album chart, "It is not only important to BTS and the Korean music industry but the whole pop music industry of the 2010s.”
Forbes said, "In particular, BTS is impressive in that they have succeeded with their new album which was released only three months after the previous one, LOVE YOURSELF 轉 TEAR.
Rolling Stone, an American popular music magazine, said, "BTS, the first K-pop group that topped Billboard 200, wrote a new chart history again.”
It added, “It's a non-English language album. It has been 12 years that a foreign language album topped Billboard 200 since Il Divo, a 4-male member popera group.”
American news site on Korean wave, Soompi, said, “Many fans are wondering how ‘IDOL,’ the title song of the new album, will do on Billboard’s single chart, Hot 100.”
In addition, British Metro reported that the band's new song IDOL ranked 21st on the UK's official singles chart, the highest record achieved by a Korean group.
The UK official chart is considered an influential pop chart along with the US Billboard. BTS ranked 42nd on the chart in May with "Fake Love."
BTS starts their world tour at Staples Center in Los Angeles, from September 4 to 6 and from September 8 to 9. On September 11, “A conversation with BTS” will be hosted by Grammy Museum for BTS to meet their American fans.