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BLACKPINK’s ‘Born Pink’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
It’s both the first chart-topper for the K-pop quartet and by an all-female group in over a decade.
BLACKPINK lands its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 1) as its second full-length studio album, Born Pink, starts atop the list with 102,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 22, according to Luminate. The eight-song set is the first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 by an all-female group since 2008.
Born Pink is the second top 10 for the South Korean quartet, which previously debuted and peaked at No. 2 in October 2020 with its full-length debut, The Album. In addition, Born Pink is the third album by a South Korean act to top the Billboard 200 in 2022, following BTS’ Proof and Stray Kids’ Stray Kids Mini Album: Oddinary. (Unlike those two albums, which are mostly in the Korean language, Born Pink is mostly in English — though with a fair amount of Korean lyrics.)
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Oct. 1, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Sept. 27. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Born Pink’s 102,000 equivalent album units earned, album sales comprise 75,500; SEA units comprise 25,000 (equaling 37.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise 1,500.
Born Pink is the first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 by a female group since Danity Kane’s second album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated April 5, 2008.
Born Pink also debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart with the seventh-largest sales week of any album in 2022 — 75,500 copies sold. Of that sum, 85% were CD sales (64,000), while 15% were digital album sales (11,500). The set was not available in any other configuration (such as vinyl LP or cassette).
The CD configuration of the album was issued in collectible packages (17 total, including exclusive variants for Target and the group’s official webstore), each with a standard set of internal paper items and randomized elements (such as photocards, postcards and stickers). Among those were four alternative cover art editions — each corresponding to a member of the group. CD sales were bolstered by the availability of signed editions of the album (the four cover variants) in the group’s webstore and at independent record stores, where each of the four versions was signed by its corresponding member.
Lavish collectible CD packages like Born Pink’s are typically expensive — as its standard digipack and box set editions originally sold for $26 and $50, respectively, in the group’s webstore. However, the digipack’s price fell to $14.99 during release week, while the autographed edition available at indie retail also went for $14.99.
Sale pricing also kicked in on the digital version of the album, which began selling for $7.99 in the iTunes and Amazon digital stores but fell to $3.99 midway through its debut week. In addition, three alternative digital editions of the album were released on Sept. 19 exclusively in the group’s webstore for $4.99 each. All three had the same eight song tracklist, but two came with an alternative cover art, and one was a “signed digital album” (with digital replicas of the quartet’s signatures on its cover).
Born Pink’s lead single “Pink Venom” debuted and peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Sept. 3. It has so far reached No. 36 on the Pop Airplay chart (through the most recently published list dated Sept. 24). The cut also spent two weeks on the all-genre Streaming Songs chart, debuting and peaking at No. 9 (Sept. 3 chart).
Outside the U.S., “Pink Venom” is a major hit, spending two weeks atop the Billboard Global 200 and three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. tally. The two charts rank the world’s most popular songs of the week based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the U.S.
Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti falls 1-2 on the Billboard 200 after 11 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list. The set earned 93,000 equivalent album units in the latest tracking week (down 4%).
NCT 127’s 2 Baddies debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, giving the South Korean pop ensemble its third top 10-charting effort. It matches the act’s chart high, first achieved with its previous album, Sticker: The 3rd Album, which debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Oct. 2, 2021-dated list.
2 Baddies bows with 58,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 55,500; SEA units comprise 3,000 (equaling 3.85 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
The CD configuration of 2 Baddies was issued in collectible deluxe packages (eight total, including a Target-exclusive edition), each with a standard set of items and randomized elements (like photocards and posters). Sales were also enhanced by the availability of deluxe box set editions that were packaged with branded merchandise like shirts, hats and tote bags. Nearly all of its sales for the week were on CD (a little under 1,000 were sold via digital download); the set was not issued in any other physical format.
2 Baddies will be released in further iterations on Oct. 7, as its CD digipack edition will street that day — available in nine different cover variations (one for each of the group’s members), each with a standard set of paper goods and randomized photocards.
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 48,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%).
Dangerous: The Double Album has now accumulated 88 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. It now solely has the sixth-most weeks in the top 10 among all albums since the chart began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956.
The all-time top 10 record-holder is the original cast recording of My Fair Lady, with 173 weeks in the top 10 between 1956-60. See list, below.
Albums With Most Weeks in Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart (March 24, 1956-onwards)
Weeks in Top 10, Artist, Title, Year First Reached Top 10
173, Original Cast, My Fair Lady, 1956
109, Soundtrack, The Sound of Music, 1965
106, Soundtrack, West Side Story, 1962
105, Original Cast, The Sound of Music, 1960
90, Soundtrack, South Pacific, 1958
88, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album, 2021
87, Original Cast, Camelot, 1961
87, Soundtrack, Oklahoma!, 1956
85, Peter, Paul and Mary, Peter Paul and Mary, 1962
84, Adele, 21, 2011
84, Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A., 1984
(through the Oct. 1, 2022-dated chart.)
The Weeknd’s compilation album The Highlights vaults back to the top 10, rising 32-5 with 39,000 equivalent album units earned (up 139%). The set contains such hits “Blinding Lights” and the resurgent “Die for You” (from The Weeknd’s studio albums After Hours and Starboy, respectively). On the new chart, the TEA and SEA units for those songs contribute to The Highlights, as a song’s activity is assigned to the artist’s album with the most traditional album sales in a week. (The Highlights sold nearly 1,000 copies in the latest tracking week, while After Hours and Starboy each sold under 1,000.) A week ago, the TEA and SEA for the songs were directed to After Hours and Starboy, respectively, as they outsold The Highlights that week.
Beyoncé’s former leader Renaissance climbs 8-6 on the new Billboard 200 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%) and Harry Styles’ chart-topping Harry’s House is stationary at No. 7 with 35,000 units (down 8%).
EST Gee clocks his second top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200 as I Never Felt Nun bows at No. 8 with 30,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 29,000 (equaling 41.15 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) while album sales comprise 1,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
Closing out the top 10 are Rod Wave’s former No. 1 Beautiful Mind, holding steady at No. 9 (29,000 equivalent album units earned, down 9%), and YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Realer 2, falling 6-10 in its third chart week (27,000, down 30%).
Source: billboard.com