Billboard has revealed its 2020 year-end charts, including the Billboard 200 Albums, and only 4 K-Pop albums managed to enter the chart.
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Besides the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the Billboard 200 Albums chart also receives a lot of attention from artists and the people behind them like their company or fandom. This is the chart of the most popular albums in the US based on album sales.
Recently, Billboard announced a series of 2020 year-end charts, including the Billboard 200 Albums. Because an album needs to be globally popular and stay on the Billboard 20 for a long time to enter this year-end chart, very few K-Pop representatives made it to the list. Among 200 honored albums, only 4 K-Pop albums appeared. Let's take a look!
#200: 'Neo Zone, The 2nd Album' - NCT 127
Release date: March 6, 2020
Title track: 'Kick It'
Not as invested and promoted as SuperM, but NCT 127 is the only group from SM Entertainment to make it here. 'Neo Zone' is a multi-genre album featuring hip hop, R&B, funk and electro-pop music to create an atmosphere that is both enchanting and relaxing.
This is one of the albums that received many positive reviews from music critics, too. Critic site IZM Korea said that "the success of this album is not due to good luck", and Rolling Stone praises this album as having both unique and seamless genre experiences.
The album 'Neo Zone' debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart with 87,000 album units (83,000 pure sales) and was the first album of the boys to enter the top 5 of this chart. This is also the NCT 127 album that stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for the longest time. Because of these commendable achievements, 'Neo Zone' is the K-pop representative that concludes the 2020 year-end Billboard 200 chart.
#189: 'The Album' - BLACKPINK
Release date: October 2, 2020
Title track: 'Lovesick Girls'
BLACKPINK was expected by many fans to appear on this year-end chart, and sure they did as the only K-Pop girl group, grabbing No. 189. This is the first full album in BLACKPINK's career - a group that is 4 years old - so it was highly anticipated. The album leads listeners to explore new sides of the group through themes of love and the complexity of maturity. In terms of music, the album shows genres such as pop, R&B, hip hop, EDM and trap.
This album also received a lot of positive responses from music critics. The Guardian rated this as a well-produced album. Meanwhile, Rolling Stone praised it, saying, "the eight-song set is a slick, confident and wildly entertaining release from the biggest girl group in the world".
'The Album' debuted at No.2 on the Billboard 200 chart with 110,000 album units (81,000 pure sales) - the highest-ranking album ever on this chart by a K-Pop girl group, and the highest-ranking album in 12 years on this chart by a girl group.
#156: 'Love Yourself: Answer' - BTS
Release Date: August 24, 2018
Title track: 'IDOL'
This is a big surprise when BTS' 2-year-old album is still on the 2020 year-end Billboard 200 chart. The album includes 25 songs (26 for the digital version) with 'IDOL' as the title track. Some of the topics the album mentions include empowerment, youth, love and reflection on life. The album includes a variety of pop genres with vibrant colors, confidence and enthusiasm.
Billboard once complimented the album, saying, "Masterful culmination of years of work and rife with meaning, Answer is undeniably a magnum opus from BTS that that few other artists, boy bands or otherwise, ever can hope to achieve."
'Love Yourself: Answer' debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 and became the 2nd album of BTS to reach the top of this chart. During its first week, the album recorded 185,000 album units (141,000 pure sales). This is also the first Korean album to receive the RIAA certification. The fact that this album has been released for 2 years but is still on the year-end chart has proven its long-standing charm.
#20: 'Map of the Soul: 7' - BTS
Release date: February 21, 2020
Title track: 'ON'
As a sequel to 'Map of the Soul: PERSONA', 'Map of the Soul: 7' is described as 'deeply personal'. It is a series of stories and emotions of BTS in their journey of maturity in the 7 years since their debut (this is also one of the reasons why the album is titled '7'). The album pursues diverse genres such as pop, R&B, hip hop, as well as rock, trap and EDM. Some topics reflected in the album are self-esteem, emotional flows and self-acceptance.
This is one of the K-Pop albums that received the most acclaim from music critics in 2020. 'Map of the Soul: 7' debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 422,000 album units (347,000 pure sales). This is the album with the highest first-week sales by BTS in the U.S. so far, and is the group's 4th album to top the chart. In November 2020, this album received a platinum RIAA certification for its achievement of selling 1 million album units.
Congratulations to BTS, BLACKPINK and NCT 127 for being honored in the 2020 year-end Billboard 200 chart!
