Stray Kids Scores 6th Billboard 200 No. 1

This undated photo, provided by JYP Entertainment, shows Stray Kids. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — K-pop boy group Stray Kids has claimed its sixth No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard’s main albums chart with its new album, “Hop.”

The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart for this week with 187,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States, Billboard said in a chart preview Sunday (U.S. time).

It marks the group’s sixth No. 1 on the chart, following “Oddinary” and “Maxident” in 2022, “5-Star” and “Rock-Star” last year, and “Ate” in July.

With the achievement, Stray Kids ties BTS, as well as Linkin Park and Dave Matthews Band, for the most No. 1s among groups on the Billboard 200 since 2000.

Stray Kids became the first act to debut at No. 1 with its first six charting albums in the nearly 69-year history of the chart, according to Billboard.

The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S., measured by equivalent album units, comprising physical album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Of the 187,000 units earned by Stray Kids, 176,000 came from physical album sales, while SEA and TEA units comprised 10,000 and 1,000, respectively.

The album’s title “Hop” carries a dual meaning, combining the Chinese character for “harmony” and “hop” from the hip-hop music genre, according to JYP Entertainment.

Led by “Walkin On Water,” the album features a total of 12 songs, including “Bounce Back,” “U” and solo pieces unveiled during the team’s latest world tour.

“As Hop is mostly in the Korean language, it is the 27th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1 and the fourth of 2024,” Billboard said.

Of the 27 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, it added, 18 are mostly Korean. Also of the 27 albums, 23 have topped the chart since 2018, when K-pop superband BTS scored its first of six No. 1s.

Including BTS and Stray Kids, a total of eight acts have topped the chart so far. The six others are Ateez (two times), SuperM, BLACKPINK, Tomorrow X Together, NewJeans and TWICE.

(Yonhap)