Achieving the first feat in Billboard history… Standing tall as a ‘global top artist’
Source: Reporter Seo Ye-won
[The Fact | Reporter Park Ji-yoon] Group Stray Kids has made a new history on Billboard.
According to a preview article released by Billboard, a US music media outlet, on the 22nd (local time), Stray Kids’ SKZHOP HIPTAPE ‘合(HOP)’ released on the 13th ranked No. 1 on Billboard 200 (as of December 28th) with sales of approximately 187,000 copies in the US, achieving the feat of reaching No. 1 on the chart for the sixth time.
Stray Kids is the first artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and have six consecutive albums at No. 1 since the chart began in March 1956. With this record, they also became the group with the most No. 1s on the Billboard 200 chart in the 2000s, tying with BTS and Linkin Park.
Stray Kids previously took No. 1 on the chart with their 2022 mini-album 'ODDINARY'. They are the third K-pop artist to do so, following BTS and SuperM, and the second single artist to do so.
With this, they reached No. 1 for the fifth time with the mini-album 'MAXIDENT' in 2022, the third regular album '★★★★★(5-STAR)' and the mini-album '樂-STAR' in 2023, and the mini-album 'ATE' in 2024, becoming the first group to do so in Billboard history and the first global artist to do so after famous American rapper DMX.
And Stray Kids achieved the feat of 'entering the Billboard 200' chart with '合(HOP)' six years after their debut and two years after their debut, engraving their name in the world music history as the first global artist to do so beyond K-pop.
Source: JYP Entertainment
SKZHOP HIPTAPE is an album that presents a 'new genre of SKZ' as a new genre that has not been officially defined. The first one, '合 (HOP)', is a combination of the eight Stray Kids members who came together and the English name of the hip-hop genre, 'HOP', which carries an ambiguous meaning. The title song 'Walkin On Water' is a song that compares confidence toward the stage to walking on water and playing with the rough flow of the water.
The album topped the iTunes Album Chart Worldwide on the day of its release, the 13th, 14th, and 16th, and as of the morning of the 16th, it ranked first on the iTunes Top Album Charts in 28 regions overseas, including Japan and Brazil.
'Walkin On Water' also ranked first on the iTunes Top Song Charts in 25 regions overseas, including Mexico and Chile, based on the same time period. In addition, the title song music video ranked first on YouTube Music Video Trending Worldwide for five days until the morning of the 17th, and was ranked on the YouTube Popularity Rising Video Rankings in 43 regions around the world, including the US and the UK.
Stray Kids, who are setting irreplaceable records on the global stage, won the Top Global K-Pop Artist category at the '2024 Billboard Music Awards' held on the 12th, becoming the winner and performer of the 'Billboard Music Awards', one of the top three American popular music awards ceremonies, for the second consecutive year.
They also ranked 4th in the Top Album Sales category of Billboard's Year-End chart announced on the 13th, the highest ranking among domestic artists, with '樂-STAR'. They also ranked 1st and 2nd in World Albums, 1st in World Album Artist, and 2nd in Top Album Sales Artist.
Stray Kids, who have risen to prominence as 'Global Top Artists', are successfully carrying out their largest-scale world tour 'Stray Kids World Tour 'dominATE'' with 48 concerts in 32 regions around the world. Starting in March 2025, the members will embark on a large-scale stadium tour in 20 regions including Latin America and North America. In particular, they are expected to enter large stadiums such as Los Angeles SoFi Stadium and New York City Field and show off Stray Kids' signature grand and powerful momentum.
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