SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MAY 21: Suga of BTS attends a press conference for BTS’s new digital single … [+]
Once again, a South Korean solo superstar has come close to topping the Billboard 200 chart in America, only to miss out by one very frustrating space. This time around it is Suga, one of the seven members of the popular group BTS, who reaches a new high point on the chart with his just-dropped solo effort D-Day.
The Billboard 200 is the chart company’s weekly ranking of the most-consumed albums and EPs in the U.S. and it uses a methodology that combines streaming and purchase data.
Suga’s new album D-Day opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, starting off in the runner-up spot with 140,000 equivalent units shifted, according to information shared by Luminate to Billboard. That sum includes 122,000 pure purchases, which is easily enough to make it the bestselling release of the week in America.
The total figure reported for D-Day also includes 12,500 streaming equivalents, which means that fans in the U.S. streamed the 10 tracks featured on the album 17.9 million times in the first seven days that the project was available in full.
As it arrives at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, D-Day ties as the highest-charting album of all time by a South Korean solo musician in U.S. history, matching a record set just a few weeks ago, coincidentally, by another BTS musician.
Jimin’s debut solo EP Face also launched at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in early April, besting the previous record-holder by just one space. Yet another member of BTS, RM, saw his solo effort Indigo climb to No. 3 on the chart earlier in 2023.
While the project was initially dropped in December 2022 and peaked at No. 15, Indigo eventually shot even higher once the physical edition was released some weeks later.
Both Jimin’s Face and Suga’s D-Day were held back from the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 by the same album: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time. The lengthy country set has proved unbeatable since it was released in mid-March, earning eight consecutive turns at the top, including this latest one.
While Suga might not have become the first South Korean soloist to top the Billboard 200, he can take comfort knowing that he’s earned his first top 10 on the tally on his own. He previously peaked just one rung shy of the highest tier, as his earlier effort, D-2, released in 2020, stalled at No. 11.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/05/01/suga-ties-jimin-for-one-of-the-most-important-billboard-chart-records-among-korean-solo-musicians/