The seven-song “Map of the Soul: Persona” (Big Hit), sung mostly in Korean, opened at No. 1 on the latest Billboard album chart, with the equivalent of 230,000 sales in the United States, including 196,000 copies sold as a full album and 37 million streams, according to Nielsen. Those 196,000 full-album sales — a robust number these days, when some chart-toppers fail to crack 500 — were helped by a canny strategy of selling four collector versions on CD, with variant packaging.
“Map of the Soul: Persona” is BTS’ third No. 1 in less than a year, after “Love Yourself: Answer” in September and “Love Yourself: Tear” in May, when BTS became the first K-pop act to land a No. 1 album in the United States. According to Billboard, the Beatles were the last group with three top sellers in such quick succession, with its three “Anthology” volumes, in 1995 and 1996.
BTS, which performed on “Saturday Night Live” two weeks ago, is the most visible of a new wave of K-pop bands — Blackpink, a girl group, just made a splash at Coachella — and has managed to cross over with clever music videos and guest appearances by Western stars like Halsey, who sings in Korean on the song “Boy With Luv.” (Another track, “Make It Right,” is partly written by Ed Sheeran.)
Also this week, Billie Eilish holds at No. 2 with “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,” which had 103 million streams, more than any other album last week. Khalid’s “Free Spirit,” last week’s top seller, falls to No. 3, while Anderson .Paak’s “Ventura” opens at No. 4, and Nipsey Hussle’s “Victory Lap” drops two spots to No. 5.
Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next” is in sixth place, while Beyoncé’s surprise “Homecoming: The Live Album” — recorded at her Coachella appearances last year — opened at No. 7.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.