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BTS Dominates Billboard Charts with Historic 'ARIRANG' Comeback
11 hours ago•Rich Park
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BTS has officially returned from a nearly four-year hiatus to claim the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 simultaneously. The group's new title track "Swim" debuted at the top of the singles chart, marking their seventh career number-one hit.
Summary
| Event | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hot 100 Debut | "Swim" entered at No. 1 |
| Billboard 200 | ARIRANG debuted at No. 1 |
| History Made | "Swim" is the 89th song in Billboard history to debut at No. 1 |
Key Facts
- "Swim" marks BTS's seventh number-one hit, joining "Dynamite," "Savage Love," "Life Goes On," "Butter," "Permission to Dance," and "My Universe."
- "Swim" entered the Hot 100 at No. 1 with 25.3M streams and 154,000 sales.
- ARIRANG topped the Billboard 200 with 641,000 units, the highest weekly sales for a group in roughly a decade.
- 13 tracks from the album charted on the Hot 100 simultaneously; BTS is the first artist to sweep the top 13 spots on the Global (Excl. U.S.) chart.
- Every vocal track entered the Hot 100; "No. 29," a non-vocal interlude featuring the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, was the only track that did not chart.
- Executive produced by Bang Si-hyuk, the album features 48 overseas creators, including Grammy winners Ryan Tedder and Diplo.
- The title track "Swim," co-written by RM, uses water as a metaphor for overcoming hardships.
- The album blends modern genres like hip-hop, alternative pop, and hyper jersey club with the traditional Korean folk song "Arirang."
Key Terms
- Hot Shot Debut: A song entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number one in its first week.
- Billboard 200: The weekly chart ranking the most popular albums and EPs in the U.S. by multi-metric consumption.
- ARIRANG: BTS's 5th studio album.
Key Quote
"We have gained the great honor of being number one on Billboard with an album released after a long wait of 3 years and 9 months." — BTS
Next
- The "ARIRANG" world tour begins on the 9th at Goyang Comprehensive Stadium.
- the group will perform 82 shows across 34 cities, the largest tour for a single K-pop act to date.