Billboard announced Sunday (US local time) that Ateez’s 11th EP, “Golden Hour: Part. 2,” debuted atop the Billboard 200 by earning 184,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov 21.
The Billboard 200 ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States, measured by equivalent album units, comprising physical album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
Billboard said Ateez sold 179,000 copies of its album, making it the sixth-largest sales debut week of this year. SEA units came to 5,000, equaling 6.43 million on-demand official streams of the group’s songs, but TEA units comprised “a negligible sum,” Billboard added.
Ateez previously reached number 1 on the chart with “The World Ep. Fin: Will” in 2023.
“Golden Hour: Part. 2” is the 26th “mostly non-English-language” album to hit number 1 and third such album this year, according to Billboard.
Ateez is one of eight K-pop acts to reach the top of the Billboard 200, with BTS having done so six times.
Billboard also noted that “Happy,” a debut solo effort by BTS member Jin, reached number 4 and Enhyphen’s “Romance: Untold” reentered the chart at number 7 — putting three K-pop albums inside the top 10 for the first time.
