K- Pop Boy band Stray Kids dominated the Billboard 200 chart on one of its weeks this year; this is the second time they have dominated the chart this year 2024. Their new mixtape, Hop, came out at No. 1 on the list after selling 187,000 equivalent album units in its debut week, with them victorious in the US music market and another chapter to their growing legacy.
This put Stray Kids in the status of the sixth K-pop group to land a No. 1 on the Billboard 200, entering an elite pantheon. And as Billboard now reports, that puts them all tied with BTS, Linkin Park and Dave Matthews Band for the most chart-topping albums among groups this century – each of whom has achieved that feat six times since 2000.
But the thing that truly differentiates Stray Kids is their clean slate on the Billboard 200: Each of their six charting albums debuted at No. 1, a feat that no peer can match. Meanwhile, as BTS, Linkin Park, and the Dave Matthews Band may be piling up points in other areas, their discographies include some projects that didn’t reach the top. Stray Kids has kept an uninterrupted run, which speaks to the extraordinary capacity with which they can connect listeners and put out releases that are impactful, one after the other.
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The recurring topper among these acts is Dave Matthews Band, which has a total of seven No. 1 albums. Its large discography, however, has 31 entries on the Billboard 200, a tale of success and failure. For example, nu-metal’s best and probably its all-time leading act Linkin Park has nine total albums chart; six of them were No. 1. While BTS, a K-pop juggernaut, has charted 15; six of them were No. 1.
With each release, Stray Kids maintains a stay on the U.S. charts and therefore reflects the increasing influence of their fanbase even in the West and the ardent support from their fanbase, called “Stay.” The fusion of K-pop, hip-hop, EDM, and pop in their music went to the hearts of an incredibly wide audience. The act was vindicated of its winning streak with Hop.
Time keeps passing, but the continued success of Stray Kids is proof that K-pop is on its way to influencing the world at large. It is the best foot forward for their artistic brilliance, work ethic, and global power of music.
