Stray Kids marked a historic milestone by ranking No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the sixth time with their latest album "HOP." The group is the first act in the 69-year history of the Billboard 200 chart to have all six of their albums debut at No. 1.
Released on Dec. 13, "HOP" debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, surpassing Kendrick Lamar's "GNX" and Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department."
Starting with "Oddinary" in 2022, Stray Kids have topped the Billboard 200 with "Maxident," "5-Star," "Rock Star," "ATE" and now "HOP."
This achievement ties Stray Kids with BTS for the most No. 1 albums by a K-pop group on the Billboard 200.
The Billboard 200 ranks albums based on a combination of three metrics: Traditional album sales, streaming equivalent albums and track equivalent albums. Traditional album sales account for physical copies such as CDs and vinyl records, while streaming equivalent albums converts on-demand audio and video streams from platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube into album units. Track equivalent albums translates digital song downloads into album units, with a standard formula applied by Billboard.
"HOP" recorded 187,000 album units during the chart period, according to these metrics, and also topped the chart for top album sales.
Stray Kids are currently on a world tour spanning 48 shows across 32 cities worldwide. Starting in March next year, the group will embark on a stadium tour across 20 cities in North and South America as well as Europe.
jy@heraldcorp.com
