By Shim Sun-ah
Rising K-pop sensation Cortis has made a significant impact on the U.S. music scene, with their second EP securing an impressive 87,000 album-equivalent units in the latest tracking week. This figure, reported by Billboard on Sunday (local time) in its weekly chart preview, included a robust 81,500 in pure album sales.
This accomplishment also secured the five-member K-pop group Cortis its first top-three position on the prestigious Billboard 200, the main U.S. albums chart. Previously, the group entered the chart once with their debut EP, “Color Outside the Lines,” which reached No. 15 last year.
The Billboard 200 is the definitive weekly ranking of the most popular albums in the United States. Its comprehensive methodology calculates equivalent album units from various sources, including physical and digital album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA), which convert digital track downloads and streams into album units.
According to a press release from BigHit Music, Cortis’s agency, this achievement establishes them as the fastest K-pop group (excluding project acts) to reach the Billboard 200’s top three, accomplishing this remarkable milestone just nine months after their debut. BigHit Music further highlighted that Cortis is the only boy band formed in the last five years to have broken into the Billboard 200 top three.
Meanwhile, K-pop global phenomenon BTS continues its impressive chart run. Their fifth studio album, “Arirang,” secured its eighth consecutive week within the Billboard 200’s top 10, moving down one position to No. 8 this week.
