ROSÉ & Bruno Mars’ ‘APT.’ Becomes First No. 1 by a K-Pop Artist on Billboard’s Pop Airplay Chart
Written by djfrosty on January 24, 2025
ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” becomes the first No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart by an act prominent in K-pop (Korean pop), as it jumps three spots to the top of the latest, Feb. 1-dated survey.
A week earlier, the song surpassed BTS’ “Dynamite,” which peaked at No. 5 on the radio ranking in December 2020, as the highest charting such Pop Airplay hit. “Dynamite” remains the only top five hit on the tally by a K-pop group.
“APT.,” on The Black Label/Atlantic Records, marks the first Pop Airplay chart entry for ROSÉ as a soloist; star K-pop quartet BLACKPINK has charted two tracks (reaching a No. 21 best) with her as a member.
Trending on Billboard
Mars, meanwhile, earns his 11th Pop Airplay No. 1 — one-upping Justin Bieber for the most among male soloists since the chart began in October 1992. Overall, Taylor Swift boasts a record 13 leaders, followed by Maroon 5, Mars, Katy Perry and Rihanna with 11 each, and Bieber and Ariana Grande with 10 each.
The Pop Airplay chart ranks songs by weekly plays on over 150 mainstream top 40 radio stations monitored by Mediabase, with data provided to Billboard by Luminate.
A select five hits by acts prominent in K-pop have climbed to the Pop Airplay top 10, beginning with PSY’s “Gangnam Style” in 2012. That viral smash and “APT.” are the only such songs billed to solo artists. Here’s a recap:
- No. 1 (one week to date), “APT.,” ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, Feb. 1, 2025
- No. 5, “Dynamite,” BTS, Dec. 19, 2020
- No. 7, “Cupid,” Fifty Fifty, Aug. 5, 2023
- No. 7, “Butter,” BTS, Aug. 7, 2021
- No. 10, “Gangnam Style,” PSY, Oct. 27, 2012
Pop Airplay chart reporter KMVQ (99.7 Now) San Francisco leads all panelists with more than 1,500 plays to date for “APT.,” dating to the single’s Oct. 18 release. WHTZ (Z100) New York, KIIS (102.7 KIIS-FM) Los Angeles and SiriusXM’s Hits 1 and TikTok Radio have also given the song notable exposure.
“APT.” – from ROSÉ’s album rosie, her first apart from BLACKPINK – has ruled the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts for 11 and 12 weeks, respectively. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song holds at its No. 5 high, with ROSÉ having become the first female K-pop artist to have reached the chart’s top five.
All charts dated Feb. 1 will update Tuesday, Jan. 28, on Billboard.com.