Wonder Girls opened the gate to the U.S market, Stray Kids spread their wings by ranking No.1 on the Billboard 200
With Stray Kids reaching No.1 on the Billboard 200, JYP’s CEO Park Jin-young also shared his happiness.
“More than results with numbers, I wanted to make a group with deeper musicality. We gained great results after putting more focus on Stray Kids. I’m deeply moved by them winning two achievements on Billboard’s main chart”
Stray Kids achieved a great milestone in K-pop history by becoming the third K-pop group to reach No.1 on Billboard’s main chart “Billboard 200” with its mini-album “ODDINARY”, in which all members participated in the production.
Stray Kids gained this achievement only 4 years after their debut. It’s also been 13 years since Wonder Girls, the girl group from the same agency (JYP Entertainment), entered the U.S market and charted on Billboard ‘HOT 100’ for the first time with the song “Nobody”.
Producer Park Jin-young, CEO of JYP Entertainment who has aimed for the U.S music market since the 2000s, couldn’t help but be amazed by Stray Kids’ excellent result.
He expressed his feelings, saying, “When ‘Nobody’ became the first song of a KPOP singer to enter Billboard’s main chart, I already couldn’t believe it. 13 years later, we finally ranked No.1 on the main chart”, adding, “I really appreciate Wonder Girls and Wonderfuls for opening the gate and showing us our potential in this market. And thank you so much to all the singers and members of JYP for taking on challenges for a long time”.
From 2009 to 2010, Wonder Girls embarked on a tour all over the United States, promoting “Nobody” and showing the charm and potential of K-pop. Prior to that, veteran idol singer BoA surprised fans as she became the first-ever Korean solo artist to enter the “Billboard 200” chart.
Since senior singers have attempted to hit the high walls of the global music market a long time ago, it is clear that current idols are also doing the same, now that K-pop has taken over the world and been evaluated as a music genre rather than a craze.
As Stray Kids has achieved great success with their music release, the group plans to expand their scope of activities by meeting fans through in-person concerts in different countries. Starting on April 29th, Stray Kids will begin their second world tour “MANIAC.”
From now on, every footstep of Stray Kids has become more important in the history of K-pop.
Stray Kids members said, “After hearing the news that we debuted on Billboard 200 at No. 1, we were surprised and proud. We promise to continue showing our cool side through great performances. We will stay humble and do our best so that our family, friends, and colleagues as well as our domestic and foreign fans, who congratulated us a lot, can be proud.”
