K-Pop Acts Rank at Nos. 1 & 2 on Artist 100 for Second Time Thanks to Stray Kids & Jimin
Written by djfrosty on July 30, 2024
For just the second time since Billboard launched the Billboard Artist 100 ranking in 2014, the top two musical acts in the U.S. are K-pop artists.
On the Aug. 3, 2024-dated Artist 100, Stray Kids and Jimin each re-enter, at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The only other week in which Korean pop acts took the top two positions was on the chart dated Oct. 17, 2020, when BLACKPINK and BTS – the latter of which Jimin is a member – ranked at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. (That week, BLACKPINK also became the first all-female group to lead the list.)
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Stray Kids rule as the top musical act in the U.S. for a fourth total week thanks to their new release, Ate: Mini Album. The set, released via JYP/Imperial/Republic Records, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 231,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States July 19-25, according to Luminate. It’s Stray Kids’ fifth total and consecutive No. 1 – as the ensemble becomes the first group, and second act overall, joining DMX, ever to debut five initial entries on the Billboard 200 at No. 1.
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With four total weeks spent at No. 1, Stray Kids have logged the second-most time atop the Artist 100 among K-pop acts, after BTS (21).
Jimin re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 2, powered by his new album Muse, which likewise opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 96,000 units. Outside of BTS, Jimin has spent one week at No. 1 on the Artist 100 as a solo act, in April 2023.
Rounding out the top five spots of the latest Artist 100, Taylor Swift ranks at No. 3 – following a record 117 weeks at No. 1 – Morgan Wallen rises 5-4 and Zach Bryan dips 4-5.