Chart Analysis for Jisoo, LE SSERAFIM, Yeji; Plus, K-Pop Stars Step Up for Wildfire Relief

Jisoo’s Album Arrival in America

Nearly a decade after BLACKPINK’s launch, all four of the members finally have their own physical, Billboard-certified albums available in the U.S. Following Jisoo’s late January signing with Warner Records ahead of dropping her AMORTAGE EP on Valentine’s Day, the record eventually made its way to U.S. stores — although, a month after its global release — to earn the singer-actress her first bows on Billboard’s album charts as a soloist.

Before we get into the charts and stats, it’s worth mentioning that Jisoo did have a one-month delay getting her physical product out in stores in the States, which undoubtedly affected her performance. While her BLACKPINK band mates Jennie, Rosé and Lisa all had their LPs available stateside on release day, those albums focused on the West and English-speaking markets. AMORTAGE was a “mini album” with two K-pop songs and two English cuts, so any comparisons between the members will be a bit of an apples-and-oranges situation.

Still, Jisoo’s AMORTAGE manages to land at No. 11 on both Top Album Sales (which counts all physical album sales in the U.S.) and Current Top Album Sales (which counts all U.S. sales of physical albums released in the last 18 months) which is a fine first attempt, but the delay’s effect is apparent with LE SSERAFIM’s HOT EP at No. 1 on both charts when its physical and digital all dropped on the day of release.

All the above considered... Jisoo’s AMORTAGE does not land on the main Billboard 200 chart but does hit a new peak on the Billboard Artist 100, returning for her first appearance on the ranking since 2023, at No. 58 for the chart of “the most popular artists across all genres, ranked from a combination of album sales, song sales, radio airplay, and streaming activity in the U.S. Not bad for her first time targeting the U.S. with no promotions and the physical delay.

Looking at LE SSERAFIM’s ‘HOT’ Streak

As mentioned earlier, LE SSERAFIM’s HOT also bows on the charts here with the well-oiled HYBE/Geffen Records/Virgin Music machine ready to launch the album globally on release day. HOT debuts at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and earns the girl group their fourth consecutive Top 10 record in America as well as their career best week for album sales.

You can check out their chart peaks, total units, album sales and streaming-equivalent album (or SEA) units in the table I’ve compiled below. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the past nearly 2.5 years since LSF began charting once their albums were available in the U.S.

On one hand, it’s good to see that the numbers have stayed relatively stable once they hit the Top 10. HOT having their best-ever sales week for an album is a good sign of a stable fanbase here and should prove vital when their world tour comes to North America in September. HOT is No. 1 on this week’s Top Album Sales and, thus, Current Top Album Sales.

The title track single “HOT” is also No. 1 on the World Digital Song Sales chart (which ranks the digital download sales of songs deemed as “world” genres which typically feature non-English songs with the chart usually featuring artists who operate in K-pop, J-pop, African/Afrobeat, and Celtic music. “HOT” is LE SSERAFIM’s second chart-topper and makes them just the seventh female K-pop group to earn multiple No. 1s. And while digital downloads are not very impactful overall on the charts or in artists’ careers (“HOT” is not even in the Top 25 of the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart), the fact that enough fans downloaded the song above all other artist releases is another sign of a stable U.S. fanbase. LSF’s album cut “Ash” — which I think is the best song on the album — also entered WDSS at No. 8 this week, again showing a fanbase actively downloading and interacting with the material even outside of the single.

The last point to note with LE SSERAFIM’s comeback is “HOT” entering the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at No. 9 this week. A major PR point for LSF’s last year was that both the title tracks from their 2024 albums entered the general Billboard Hot 100 with “EASY” at No. 99 and “CRAZY” managing to hit No. 76. And just their previous singles, LSF unleashed a series of remixes and versions to boost up streams An English version, Sped Up version, Slowed + Reverb version and instrumental all dropped on March 17. A day later, an EP titled HOT (LE SSERAFIM Package) dropped, and each member recorded a new remixed version of the song. Missing the Hot 100 is a bit of a disappointment, but also noting that Playboi Carti has an absolutely massive 31 entries onto the Hot 100 this week with the release of his 30-song new album MUSIC to push out many competitors is important for context.

I have heard LE SSERAFIM had been discussing collaborating with one western star with their management looking into the group. Maybe she’ll end up being on a remix of “HOT” or “Ash” to give the songs additional chart life.

LE SSERAFIM also have a new PR team that set up looks in Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, Consequence of Sound, NME, and MTV UK.

Yeji Starts ITZY’s Solo Run

Yeji started ITZY’s solo run as the first member to release her own album. The 24-year-old’s AIR was released physically in the U.S. four days after its digital release and after the EP was physically available globally via Korea, meaning U.S. fans either needed to wait until the 14th to get their copy — or find other means to get it sooner. The slight U.S. delay makes strategic sense as Monday is a more advantageous day for K-pop acts to release in Korea based on their chart systems, but Friday is the global release day that Billboard follows, which gives Yeji the best chart chances on both sides with a full seven days to earn physical sales in the States.

AIR landed at No. 16 on Top Current Album Sales, No. 17 on Top Album Sales, missing the Billboard 200. AIR is also No. 6 on the World Albums chart (behind LSF’s HOT, Stray Kids’ Hop, and Jimin of BTS’ Muse albums), which combines physical sales, streaming activity and download activity for albums. The title track single, “AIR,” is also No. 9 on World Digital Song Sales with U.S. fans showing they still are looking for multiple ways to support Yeji and general interest in the star. All of this led to Yeji debuting at No. 73 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (ranking alongside LE SSERAFIM, Jennie, Rosé, Stray Kids and Jisoo as the biggest artists in the U.S. this week).

ITZY’s western PR team 42west did secure some unique publicity for the release: Access Hollywood, tmrw, NME, Wonderland Magazine, CNA, plus a “Live Lecture” in partnership with Meta via an Instagram Live to learn the “Air” choreography. Yeji also curated a playlist for Apple Music.

More Chart Stats

• Despite Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” falling out of the Top 10 on the Hot 100, the song is still a hit (at No. 14) as it approaches three months on the chart next week. As previously mentioned, Playboi Carti’s takeover of the Hot 100 pushed many songs down the ranking but “APT.” should float back up at least a few spots next week. It’s Top 10 run may be over, though, given the slowing radio play (it’s down from No. 6 to No. 9 on the Radio Songs chart) and streaming activity (with a second week of lower streams as the song falls from No. 10 to No. 20 on Streaming Songs this week, but the large gap is due mainly to Carti again). Interestingly, “APT.” rose to No. 4, from No. 8, on Digital Song Sales.

• Even before its physical release in the States, NMIXX’s Fe3O4: Forward already bowed at No. 22 on the World Albums chart (sales + streaming + digital), indicating a good chart bow next week. The JYP Entertainment girl group has had mixed results on the U.S. charts. 2023’s Expérgo, as well as Fe3O4: Break from last year, landed at Nos. 122 and 171 on the Billboard 200, respectively. But when Fe3O4: Stick Out was released last August, the EP missed the BB200 entirely. With the early reactions to Forward being strong (singles “High Horse” and “KNOW ABOUT ME,” as well as the album cut “Papillon,” are all fantastic), NMIXX should have some good chart results next week — or at least results that will change any downward trajectory.
  
  NMIXX have interviews with The Hollywood Reporter, Teen Vogue and The Knockturnal so far.

The Latest on NewJeans/NJZ

In two interviews, one filmed before and one after their loss in the injunction hearing against ADOR, “NewJeans tell BBC why they spoke out.”

Some key quotes from the interview that was in print and video across different BBC platforms.

“In the second interview, which was 24 hours after the ruling, they seemed disheartened and unsettled, less sure of what was to come. ‘If we knew we were gonna go through this, maybe we would have chosen…’ Hanni trailed off as she teared up. Seconds later, she continued: ‘Even if we do everything we can and it doesn’t work out the way we hope it does, then we’ll just have to leave it to time. I’m sure time would figure it out for us.’”

For the first time, the NJZ members also referenced how the issues surrounding them, HYBE, ADOR, and Min Hee-jin have affected other artists, most notably BELIFT LAB girl group ILLIT following Min’s claims that the team behind them was copying her concepts and plans:

“As big as the decisions we’ve made in the past year have been, it’s all been decided through a very large, large amount of discussion between us,” Hanni told the BBC. “I’ll be completely honest, we’re not comfortable about constantly bringing up the situation because we know it involves another team and we don’t want to affect that team in any way; there’s no need for that. But if you don’t express how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking, people don’t know and people would have just believed what was going on in the media.”

She has a point about the media situation in Korea where powerful entertainment companies get statements published (and then, sometimes, take them down) without media outlets doing fact checking, updating, or reaching out for the other side’s comment. (I know because it’s happened to me.)

Elsewhere in the media, Billboard and CNN brought new viewpoints to the conflict through legal lenses.

In her piece How HYBE’s Legal Victory Over NewJeans/NJZ Could End Up Costing the Company, senior finance correspondent Elizabeth Dilts Marshall says that “industry insiders wonder whether a legal win would be a pyrrhic victory for HYBE.”

CNN’s Oscar Holland and Gawon Bae spoke to Sangrock Kho, a lawyer at South Korea’s law firm Pil, who says the court’s decision to honor the injunction is “‘quite significant’ as it signifies that the band’s legal case is ‘either extremely weak or virtually nonexistent’” which isn’t good news for the artist side.

—Absolutely crazy developing story → ‘Under 15’ Producers Defend Controversial K-Pop Competition, but Will ‘Re-Edit the Show’: “Producers of the controversial minors-only K-pop audition show ‘Under 15’ — featuring only contestants younger than 15 — defended their production on Tuesday amid mounting public outrage over its concept and imagery...the trailer immediately came under fire when it showed 59 young contestants wearing thick makeup and dancing in short skirts. Additional alarm was raised when contestant photos uploaded to Instagram included bar codes, which many interpreted as objectifying the girls.

“While the producers opened the news conference with an apology, they focused more on the public’s reaction than the show’s concept. They described the program as a platform for giving young talent a chance to shine on a stage and get advice from high-quality trainers, especially children who hadn’t had a chance to prove themselves at K-pop agencies’ auditions. However, their remarks frequently veered into frustration, with repeated suggestions that the public criticism — rather than ‘Under 15’ itself — was harming the show’s young participants. ‘We did think that there could be some concerns, but we spent a whole year making this show and we optimistically thought that people would be touched once they actually saw the show,’ said Crea Studio co-CEO Hwang In-young.” (Korea JooAng Daily)

—Jennie Joins Dua Lipa as the Face of the Chanel 25 Bag Campaign: “Award-winning director Gordon von Steiner shot the campaign video set in Manhattan to the soundtrack of ‘She Drives Me Crazy’ by Fine Young Cannibals. ‘With this iconic ’90s pop song, it feels like a short music video capturing the streets of New York,’ Jennie said. David Sims also shot some signature minimalist photographs of Jennie to complete the vision and show the full potential of the Chanel 15 handbag.” (V Magazine)

BTS’ J-Hope Gets Help From the Louvre to Promote Latest Solo Single “MONA LISA”: “The collaboration was the museum's idea. On March 18, the Louvre showed interest in the song by leaving a comment in photos themed on the song uploaded on BTS’ official Instagram account, later extending an official proposal to shoot a video.” (Korea.net)

Multiple K-pop stars are stepping up to help support the relief efforts amid the multiple wildfires ravaging South Korea’s south-east region that have claimed 24 lives already.

—The 13-member boy band SEVENTEEN donated one billion Korean won (about $682,330) to support the fire victims through the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association

—JYP Entertainment (K-pop powerhouse label home to TWICE, Stray Kids, ITZY, NMIXX and more) donated 500 million won through World Vision to help 10,000 residents most severely affected by the fire

—Solo superstar IU donated 200 million won (about $136,480) through the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association to help with damage control and improve treatment for local firefighters

—Girl groups LE SSERAFIM and IVE donated 200 million and 50 million Korean won, respectively, to Hope Bridge

—BTS members J-Hope and Suga both donated 100 million won (about $68,255) each to Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association and the Korean Red Cross, respectively, to support wildfire relief efforts

—Virtual idol group PLAVE participated in supporting the relief by donating 50 million to Hope Bridge

—TWICE’s Jihyo donated 50 million won to the Community Chest of Korea

—Seulgi of Red Velvet donated 100 million won to the Korean Red Cross

—Suzy, a former member of JYP girl group miss A but is now more focused on acting, donated 100 million won to Hope Bridge, while fellow idol-turned-actor Kim Sejeong also donated 20 million won to org

—K-pop legend Lee Hyori and Oh My Girl member Arin gave 100 million and 50 million won, respectively, to Hope Bridge

—Mark and Haechan of NCT both made donations. Mark sent 100 million to Hope Bridge while donated 50 million won to the Community Chest of Korea

—ZEROBASEONE’s Kim Jiwoong and WINNER’s Kim Jinwoo both donated 10 million won to Hope Bridge

—BLACKPINK’s Jisoo is on the cover of Harper’s Baazar Australia/New Zealand rocking Tommy Hilfiger.

—Boy band TNX, the K-pop group created under PSY’s PNation label, released their rockin’ new single “For Real?” (YouTube)

—After Ravn left his boy band ONEUS in 2022 over a series of claims from his alleged ex-girlfriend, the 29-year-old will make his return with the digital single “Comedy” on April 2. DSP Media seems to be handling his social media accounts, the agency acquired by ONEUS’ label, RBW, in 2022. (@ravn___official)

—Twitter users are talking about Tomorrow X Together member Yeonjun’s professionalism for continuing to perform on stage despite a bleeding lip.