BTS' J-Hope Enjoys Highest Entry for a Korean Soloist on the Billboard Chart

By Ela Teodosio, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, March 07, 2018

Bangtan Boys, or BTS, breaks new record as its rapper J-Hope becomes the highest entry Korean soloist to make it to the Billboard chart.

On Thursday, March 1, J-Hope dropped his first solo mixtape called "Hope World," sending the group's loyal ARMY into a frenzy.

Despite being launched on the last day of the weekly chart, "Hope World" managed to nab the 63^rd spot in the top 200 albums, equivalent to 9,000 album units. Of this number, 8,000 were in traditional album sales, allowing it to open at No. 1 on the sales-based World Albums chart as well as No. 16 on Top Album Sales.

Billboard tracks its 200 chart ranks through multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

When it was released, the BTS ARMY urged fellow fans not to download or buy the album just yet and wait until Friday midnight to make it count for the next week. This way, they would also have more chance to put J-Hope into a higher rank.

Although it looks like a number of fans failed to adhere the warning, there is a good chance that J-Hope will soar even higher once this week's chart ends on March 10. The result of which will come out on Tuesday, March 13.

Even at the 63^{rd spot though, J-Hope is already the highest entry solo artist hailing from South Korea. Only four persons have made it as a solo act before him. Previous title-holder BIGBANG's Taeyang made it to no. 112 in 2014; BoA, considered the Queen of K-pop, entered at no. 127 in 2009; SHINee's late member Jonghyun bowed at no. 117 with his posthumous album "Poet"; while BIGBANG's G-Dragon entered at no. 161 in 2012.}

Following his album release, J-Hope launched the music video for his first solo single "Daydream." In an interview with Time Magazine, the 24-year-old musician said the song expresses his dreams that could not come to reality due to his celebrity status.

"Hope World" is the first album offering from BTS for 2018.