HYBE-Geffen Girl Group KATSEYE Tops US Billboard Album Chart for First Time

HYBE's US-Korea joint girl group KATSEYE has claimed the top spot on the US Billboard main album chart, the Billboard 200, with their third mini-album, "WILD."

Billboard announced in a chart preview article on August 22 (local time) that "WILD" debuted at number one, surpassing Phoebe Bridgers' "LOST WEEKEND" and Stray Kids' "THIS & THAT."

This marks KATSEYE's first time topping the Billboard 200 since their debut in 2024.

It is also the fourth time a female group has reached number one on Billboard since 2020, following BLACKPINK's "Born Pink" in 2022, NewJeans' "Get Up" in 2023, and TWICE's "With YOU-th" in 2024.

The Billboard 200 ranks albums based on "Album Units," which combine traditional album sales (including physical albums), equivalent album units from streaming (SEA), and equivalent album units from digital track downloads (TEA).

"WILD" recorded 170,000 album units during the tracking period for this chart.

Among them, traditional album sales accounted for 145,000 copies, landing the album at number one on the Top Album Sales chart this week.

SEA units were 24,500, and TEA units were 500.

"WILD" is an album that portrays KATSEYE embracing their inner selves as they are and moving toward instinct and freedom.

It features "Hootie Frutti" as its title track, characterized by percussion-driven pop sounds, heavy drum beats, witty lyrics, and a bold music video.

Renowned producers, including HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, pop star Ed Sheeran, Omer Fedi, and Blake Slatkin, participated in the songwriting and production.

The album previously signaled its box-office success by reaching number two on the UK Official Albums Chart Top 100, marking KATSEYE's highest ranking on the chart to date.

KATSEYE is a group formed through "The Debut: Dream Academy," a survival program co-produced by HYBE and Universal Music Group's US label Geffen Records.

Having debuted in the US in 2024 and released hit songs such as "Gnarly" and "Gabriela," they were nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in February of this year.

Previously, K-pop girl groups BLACKPINK, NewJeans, and TWICE, along with boy groups BTS, SuperM, Stray Kids, ATEEZ, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT), have topped the Billboard 200.

Additionally, the original soundtrack (OST) album for the Netflix animated film "K-Pop: Demon Hunters" also claimed the top spot on the same chart.

Meanwhile, Stray Kids' "THIS & THAT" placed third with 82,000 album units, dropping two spots from the previous week.

(Photo provided by HYBE-Geffen Records, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.