A K-pop boy group not from the “Big 4” has achieved the top spot on the “Billboard 200” chart
ATEEZ, a K-pop boy group from a small-scale K-pop agency, has claimed the No. 1 position on the “Billboard 200”, making history as the first boy group not from the “BIG 4” agencies (HYBE, SM, JYP, and YG) to manage such an achievement.
In particular, according to a chart preview article released on December 10, ATEEZ’s second full album, “THE WORLD EP. FIN: WILL”, surpassed competitors such as Taylor Swift’s “1989” (Taylor’s version) and Drake’s “For All the Dogs”, securing the top spot on the chart.
Regarding this news, Billboard stated, “‘THE WORLD EP. FIN: WILL’ is mostly in Korean,” adding, “This album is the 23rd non-English album overall and the seventh this year to top the ‘Billboard 200.'”
Meanwhile, “Billboard 200” rankings adds “streaming equivalent albums” (SEA), which converts the number of streams into album sales, and “track equivalent albums” (TEA), which converts the number of digital music downloads into album sales, to the traditional album sales score.
Accordingly,”ATEEZ’s ‘THE WORLD EP. FIN: WILL” recorded album units equivalent to 152,000 copies, with album sales (including CD and digital album downloads) reaching 146,000 copies. SEA and TEA units recorded 5,500 and 500 copies, respectively.
Upon hearing the news, ATEEZ expressed through their agency KQ Entertainment, “We were really surprised to hear about the ‘Billboard 200’ No. 1 ranking. Achieving such great results following our last album feels like a dream, and we are happy.”
They continued, “It hasn’t been long since our comeback, and thanks to ATINYs (fandom name of ATEEZ) who always support and give us strength, we receive such gifts every day. We will continue to make ATEEZ’s music and show better stages and more wonderful appearances to repay our fans.”
Source: Wikitree
