Welcome back to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. This week, it’s time to dig into some new chart data, with a focus on recent numbers from Stray Kids and Jimin. If you enjoy what you’re reading, feel free to subscribe to my companion newsletter to get Fan Chant delivered right to your inbox each week!
For the first time in history, the top two slots on the Billboard 200 albums chart are occupied by acts out of South Korea: Stray Kids and Jimin of BTS. At No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, these artists successfully beat out offerings from Eminem, Taylor Swift, Zach Bryan, and Morgan Wallen.
A decade ago, such an accomplishment would’ve felt shocking, and to understand how we got here, we have to look back. In 2018, BTS became the first K-pop band to debut an album in the top slot of the chart, which first launched in 1945. Love Yourself: Tear was, as many know, just the start of BTS’ relationship with No. 1 albums — in the years that followed, Love Yourself: Answer, Map of the Soul: Persona, Map of the Soul: 7, and BE all followed suit.
Similarly, when “Dynamite” marked BTS as the first K-pop act to debut a song at No. 1 on the Hot 100, it was a hard-won milestone for the group, who still had to fight for airtime on the radio, a remaining factor in chart placement. It was only through the size and passion of the BTS fanbase that these thresholds of mainstream chart recognition were achieved; since then, Jimin and Jung Kook have also made history as the only two South Korean soloists to reach No. 1.
With BTS currently in the midst of their compulsory military service, the members have used this window of time to release individual projects, which is how we’ve arrived at MUSE, the sophomore solo effort from Jimin. If BTS is on something of a hiatus, the fanbase isn’t — the momentum, even without promotions or performances possible from Jimin, was enough to carry him all the way to the No. 2 slot.
While many believe BTS to have now transcended the label of K-pop, at the end of the day, they’re a pop group from South Korea who are largely responsible for introducing a massive slew of listeners to one of their home country’s biggest exports.