K-pop Groups Dominate Billboard’s World Albums Chart

Eight Korean groups claimed sweet spots on Billboard’s World Albums chart for the week dated Dec. 25.

Fourth generation boyband Ateez leads the list with its repackaged EP "Zero: Fever Epilogue" which is currently at No. 1 on the chart. "Zero: Fever Epilogue" is also their second album to chart on the Billboard 200 which ranks the week’s most popular albums in the U.S.

Two songs from the EP also landed on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart this week. "The Real" reappeared at No. 6 on the chart while "Turbulence" debuted at No. 9.

Multi-national boyband NCT127 is at No. 2 with "Sticker" which has already spent 13 weeks on the World Albums Chart - the only K-pop album of 2021 to have spent such time on the Billboard 200 this week.

Girl group TWICE's "Formula Of Love: 0+T=<3" took the No. 3 spot on the World Albums chart as it spent its fifth week on the list. Aside from this milestone, TWICE is also the second K-pop girl group which has spent five consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 next to Blackpink’s "The Album."

Not to be outdone is BTS with "Map Of The Soul: 7" at No. 4, "BE" at No. 6, "Map Of The Soul: Persona" at No. 14 and "Love Yourself: Tear" at No. 15.

Coming in at No. 8 is SEVENTEEN’s mini album "Attacca." It features seven songs including "2 MINUS 1" which was co-written and performed by Seventeen’s Joshua and Vernon, with contributions from the group’s rapper, songwriter and producer, Woozi.

BTS’ fellow Hybe Entertainment artist TXT also entered the chart with two different albums. Their first Japanese EP "Chaotic Wonderland" is at No. 9 while their latest studio album "The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE" held a tight grip on the 12^th spot for the 29^th consecutive week. "The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE" was earlier held by Billboard as the longest-charting K-pop album of 2021 on Billboard 200.

Though they have not released new music as a group, Blackpink’s "The Album" released in 2020 is at No. 11 followed by the quintet Itzy with their album, "Crazy In Love" landing the No. 12 spot.

Meanwhile, Itzy finally scored their first 400 million views for a music video. On Tuesday, "Wannabe" hit the mark and is now nearing 500 million plays on YouTube – one year and nine months since it premiered on the social media platform on March 9, 2020.