BLACKPINK tops Billboard 200 list for the first time as K-pop girl group

BLACKPINK topped the U.S. Billboard 200 for the first time as a K-pop girl group. It is the fourth time for a K-pop singer to win the number one title on the Billboard 200 after BTS, Super M by SM Entertainment, and Stray Kids by JYP, all of whom are boy groups.

A Billboard chart announcement article on Sunday (local time) said that BLACKPINK’s official full-length album “BORN PINK” sold around 102,000 and became the first female group album to top the billboard 200 since Danity Kane in 2008. “BLACKPINK makes history this week once again as their latest full-length Born Pink debuts atop the Billboard 200,” said Forbes.

BLACKPINK also topped the British official album chart “Top 100” on Saturday, a first for a K-pop girl group. The girl group is the only Asian female performer to top both lists at the same time. It is the first time for a female singer in 21 years since American girl group Destiny’s Child topped the billboard and the British official chart.

The Billboard 200 determines album ranking by combining traditional album sales, streaming equivalent albums (SEA), and track equivalent albums (TEA). The album BORN PINK had physical album sales of 75,500, SEA of 25,000, and TEA of 1,500. “CD sales of BLACKPINK was the seventh highest among album sales tracker this year,” said Billboard.

BLACKPINK’s title song, “Shut Down,” hit the number one spot on the weekly chart of the global number one music streaming platform Spotify, another first-time achievement as a K-pop singer. “Shut Down” was streamed 39,186,127 times in the first week of its release.

“Usually, K-pop groups impact the mainstream market by fandom-led consumption or by album sales,” said pop columnist Kim Do-hyun. “BLACKPINK, however, has strong streaming performance as well, implying that it has reached out to a larger audience.”

BLACKPINK made its debut on the Billboards in 2018 with its mini album "SQUARE UP" (40th place) and has steadily moved upwards with “KILL THIS LOVE” (24th) and the official first album “THE ALBUM” (2nd place). The most recent album sold more than two million copies in the preorder period and 2,141,281 copies in half day, becoming the first double million seller for a K-pop girl group.


Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com