SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – APRIL 29: Hong Eun-Chae, Kim Chae-Won, Kazuha, Huh Yun-Jin and Sakura of girl … [+]
Le Sserafim scores their first top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart this week, as their debut full-length Unforgiven opens at No. 6 on the all-encompassing ranking of the most-consumed albums and EPs in the U.S. As the South Korean girl group breaks into the highest tier for the first time, they join a highly exclusive club of some of the most successful female acts from their home nation.
The five-piece vocal act is just the fifth South Korean girl group to chart a top 10 album on the Billboard 200 in America.
Blackpink made history as the first K-pop girl group to find themselves inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 several years ago. They narrowly missed out on conquering the chart in 2020 with The Album, their debut full-length. They rectified that loss in 2022 with Born Pink, which made them the first outfit from South Korea made up entirely of women to top the tally.
Among the five acts listed in this article, Twice has accrued the most top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. The K-pop girl group has thus far placed four different projects on the ranking inside the loftiest space, but they have yet to reach No. 1. They almost landed a winner earlier in 2023, but Ready To Be stalled at No. 2 instead.
Two other girl groups from South Korea have also charted albums inside the Billboard 200’s top 10, with each act landing a single smash success. Both Aespa and Itzy have appeared between Nos. 1 and 10 once, at least so far, though Aespa may soon up their count.
The latest offering from Le Sserafim storms the charts with an impressive 45,000 equivalent album units, according to information shared by Luminate. Delving into the numbers, it becomes apparent that their pure purchases largely propelled the album’s success, with 38,500 of those units coming from album sales alone. 6,500 equivalent units were accrued from 9.04 million on-demand official streams across the album’s 13 tracks, according to Billboard, while TEA (track equivalent album) units make up an inconsequential fraction of the overall figure.
Before this week, Le Sserafim had only appeared on the Billboard 200 with their EP Antifragile, which peaked at No. 14 in late 2022.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/05/15/le-sserafim-join-blackpink-twice-aespa-and-itzy-with-their-first-top-10-album-in-america/