(ANN/KOREA HERALD) – Stray Kids have achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first act in the 69-year history of the Billboard 200 chart to have all six of their albums debut at No. 1. Their latest album, HOP, released on December 13, claimed the top spot on the Billboard 200, surpassing Kendrick Lamar’s GNX and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.
Starting with Oddinary in 2022, Stray Kids have consistently dominated the Billboard 200 with albums including Maxident, 5-Star, Rock Star, ATE, and now HOP. This latest achievement ties the group with BTS for the most No. 1 albums by a K-pop group on the Billboard 200.
The Billboard 200 ranks albums based on three key metrics: traditional album sales, streaming equivalent albums (SEA), and track equivalent albums (TEA). Traditional album sales include physical formats like CDs and vinyl records, while SEA translates audio and video streams from platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube into album units. TEA converts digital song downloads into album units based on a standard formula.
During the chart period, HOP recorded an impressive 187,000 album units across these metrics and also secured the No. 1 spot for top album sales.
In addition to their chart-topping success, Stray Kids are in the midst of a global tour spanning 48 shows across 32 cities. Starting in March next year, the group will embark on a stadium tour covering 20 cities in North and South America as well as Europe, further solidifying their position as one of the leading K-pop acts in the world.
