K-Pop Acts Rank at Nos. 1 & 2 on Artist 100 for Second Time Thanks to Stray Kids & Jimin
For just the second time since Billboard launched the Billboard Artist 100 ranking in 2014, the top two musical acts in the U.S. are K-pop artists.
On the Aug. 3, 2024-dated Artist 100, Stray Kids and Jimin each re-enter, at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The only other week in which Korean pop acts took the top two positions was on the chart dated Oct. 17, 2020, when BLACKPINK and BTS – the latter of which Jimin is a member – ranked at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. (That week, BLACKPINK also became the first all-female group to lead the list.)
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
Stray Kids rule as the top musical act in the U.S. for a fourth total week thanks to their new release, Ate: Mini Album. The set, released via JYP/Imperial/Republic Records, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 231,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States July 19-25, according to Luminate. It’s Stray Kids’ fifth total and consecutive No. 1 – as the ensemble becomes the first group, and second act overall, joining DMX, ever to debut five initial entries on the Billboard 200 at No. 1.
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With four total weeks spent at No. 1, Stray Kids have logged the second-most time atop the Artist 100 among K-pop acts, after BTS (21).
Jimin re-enters the Artist 100 at No. 2, powered by his new album Muse, which likewise opens at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 96,000 units. Outside of BTS, Jimin has spent one week at No. 1 on the Artist 100 as a solo act, in April 2023.
Rounding out the top five spots of the latest Artist 100, Taylor Swift ranks at No. 3 – following a record 117 weeks at No. 1 – Morgan Wallen rises 5-4 and Zach Bryan dips 4-5.
