K-pop boy band Stray Kids set their own record by topping the Billboard 200, their first ever entry on the chart.
Billboard announced that Stray Kids’ new album “Oddinary” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 for the April 2 chart with 110,000 equivalent album units earned in the US based on data supplied by Luminate (formerly MRC Data).
“It earns the group its first career No. 1 album and first entry on the chart,” according to Billboard Charts Twitter account.
Of the 110,000 units, 103,000 were album sales, which is the “largest sales week of any album this year.”
Billboard added that “Oddinary” also debuted at No. 1 on Top Album Sales chart, making it the “first album released in 2022 to debut at No. 1 on both the #Billboard200 and #TopAlbumSales charts in the same week.”
“Woah, so exciting!” Stray Kids told Billboard.
Bang Chan said, “We heard the news a few moments ago and are like, ‘Is this real? Is this actually happening?’ We were really surprised too.”
“Oddinary” was released worldwide on March 18 and according to Bang Chan, “Throughout the week, we were trying to se what their reactions are, what they think about the album.”
“Seeing how much they give interest to music and the album itself, it’s the reason we could get this far. I don’t know if we deserve it, but it’s a really big gift that Stays gave us. It makes us want to try harder. It’s a really good start for 2022, so a really big thank you to Stays,” he said.
Before the Billboard 200 record, Stray Kids topped the weekly album chart in South Korea and broke their own first-week sales record.
Hanteo Chart released the top-selling albums in South Korea for the week from March 14 to 20 and at No. 1 is “Oddinary,” which sold 583,899 copies.
According to Hanteo, “Oddinary” sold 853,021 copies in the first week of release from March 18 to 24.
The album sold 496,125 copies on the first day of release on March 18 followed by 39,415 on March 19; 48,359 copies on March 20; 119,221 copies on March 21; 59,807 copies on March 22; 68,689 copies on March 23; and 21,405 copies on March 24.
The total first-week sales became a personal best for Stray Kids, whose previous album “NOEASY” sold 641,589 copies in the first week of release.
Stray Kids suffered a setback in album promotions when six of the eight members tested positive for Covid-19.
Changbin was the first to test positive for Covid-19 on March 18, the day the new album was released, followed by Han, Seungmin, Bang Chan, Lee Know and Hyunjin.
All have recovered from Covid-19 with Bang Chan, Lee Know and Hyunjin being released from isolation on March 28, according to JYP Entertainment.