Stray Kids Tie BTS As The Only K-Pop Boy Bands With Hot 100 Hits

Stray Kids are enjoying their biggest and most important week on the Billboard charts. They’ve simultaneously shown that they can repeat their own previous successes while growing at the same time. Oh, and they’ve managed to make important history as well.

The group’s new single “Lalala” debuts at No. 90 on the Hot 100 this week. That’s not a very lofty starting point, but it’s not the position that matters. The fact that Stray Kids are on the ranking of the most-consumed songs in the U.S. at all is historic.

Stray Kids are now just the second South Korean boy band to crack the Hot 100. Even in this years-long K-pop craze that has taken over the United States, only two male groups in the genre have managed to make it to the competitive tally, and the new winners are in fantastic company.

BTS was the first—and until this week, only—K-pop boy band to hit the Hot 100. The septet first reached the chart back in 2017 with “DNA.” The tune failed to enter the top 40 or even the upper half of the ranking, but it wasn’t long before the group quickly bested their initial showing.

Thus far, BTS has sent 27 songs to the Hot 100. That sum includes 10 top 10 smashes and half a dozen No. 1s. Despite being on hiatus, the band still managed to push a new single, “Take Two,” to the tally a few months ago.

Looking at all K-pop acts, the number of names who have reached the Hot 100 expands significantly. More than half a dozen bands have done so, with girl groups far outnumbering their male counterparts when it comes to success on the charts—at least in terms of the sheer number of acts who have placed on the list.

“Lalala” serves as the lead single from Stray Kids’ new EP Rock-Star. The set opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, giving the group their fourth leader. Until this week, the band held the record for the musical act with the most chart-toppers on the Billboard 200 without reaching the Hot 100—a title that they have thankfully passed on.

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