Just a few weeks ago, Stray Kids nabbed their latest No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their latest release, Rock-Star. The South Korean boy band has been quickly racking up leaders on the list of the most-consumed albums in the U.S.—much faster than some may realize. In fact, they are quickly catching up to the most successful musical act to emerge from the Asian nation, and it may not be long before they tie with the group.
Rock-Star marked Stray Kids’ fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The set also marked their second champion of 2023, as they ruled just a few months prior with a different collection, 5-Star.
2023 marks the second year in a row in which Stray Kids have topped the Billboard 200 twice. With four No. 1 albums to their credit in just two years, the band is rapidly catching up to BTS when looking at the South Korean musical acts with the most chart-toppers on the important and competitive list.
So far, BTS has accrued half a dozen No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. That has stood as the greatest accumulation of leaders among K-pop acts for years, and while the number of names from South Korea that have managed to hit the top spot on the weekly tally is increasing every year, it’s rare that any of them earn more than a single leader…at least so far. Stray Kids are the anomaly among their countrymen (and women).
At the rate they’re going, Stray Kids may very well tie BTS’s record by the end of 2024. If they can produce another two No. 1 albums next year, they’ll match the boy band that came before them. Predicting a pair of champions in a calendar year is a big ask, but since the group has accomplished that feat twice in a row, it’s not out of the question.
Stray Kids’ releases have been debuting with bigger and bigger sums. In 2022, both of their No. 1 albums debuted with between 110,000 and 117,000 equivalent album units. In 2023, their two leaders arrived with well over 200,000 units each. That means it’s becoming easier for the band to open in first place, as their larger starting figures help them beat the competition.
Also helping Stray Kids toward this bit of history is the fact that their competitors, BTS, are on a break. The members of the boy band are busy with their mandatory military enlistment, something all men in South Korea must complete by a specific age. That almost surely means the septet won’t be releasing a new album anytime soon, giving Stray Kids more time to catch up.
For the moment, there’s no word of when Stray Kids may return with more new music, as they just released Rock-Star a few weeks ago. Based on their past performance, and the typical output of top K-pop stars, they may very well produce at least one collection in 2024, if not several. And if they can continue to dominate the Billboard 200 as they have for several years now, they may soon own this very important all-time record.
