BTS’ V breaks K-pop record with sales of first solo album

V of boy band BTS [BIGHIT MUSIC]

 
V of boy band BTS sold 1.67 million copies of his first solo album “Layover” on the day of its release on Friday, the highest ever for a solo K-pop singer.
 
V’s latest EP sold 1,672,138 copies and topped the iTunes Top Album charts in 65 regions around the world on Friday, according to his agency BigHit Music.
 
The album’s lead track “Slow Dancing” topped the iTunes Top Song chart in 75 regions around the world as of Sunday 7 a.m.
 
The album also landed atop Japan’s Oricon Daily Album Ranking chart on Saturday, selling 221,491 copies in the country. The lead track became No. 1 on Oricon’s Daily Digital Single Ranking chart while three of the other tracks from the album — “Blue, “For Us” and a piano version of “Slow Dancing” — sat at positions 4, 5 and 6 on the chart, respectively.
 
“Layover” embodies V’s urge to take the time to look back on his past days before reaching the final destination, just as the word conveys, while “Slow Dancing” is meant to give a sense of relaxation for the listeners, according to V.
 

V of boy band BTS [BIGHIT MUSIC]

 
“I hope people feel free and comfortable while they’re listening to this song,” V said in a video explaining his album to the listeners.
 
“I usually talk slow and [the producer] actually turned this into a unique color for me,” he said. “This is the kind of music that I wanted.”
 
He added, “This could be the time for me to look back and reflect on myself before the final destination. I hope this solo album allows me to become more determined to achieve my goal.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]