BTS’s ‘BE’ Is On Track To Become The Group’s Fifth No. 1 Album On The Billboard 200

It’s business as usual for BTS with their new album BE, which is headed for an easy No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, granting them their fifth consecutive No. 1 Korean-language album in the United States. 

The South Korean pop septet’s eight-song album is currently on pace to move between 260,000 and 290,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, according to HITS Daily Double. That sum includes 215,000-225,000 pure sales, with the rest coming from streams and individual track downloads. These projections are likely to swell as the week progresses; don’t be surprised if BE eclipses 300,000 units in its first seven days. 

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If BE debuts atop the Billboard 200, it will mark BTS’s fifth Korean-language album to do so in two and a half years. The group earned its first U.S. chart-topper in 2018 with Love Yourself: Tear and maintained the streak with 2018’s Love Yourself: Answer, 2019’s Map of the Soul: Persona and 2020’s Map of the Soul: 7. The group’s last release, Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey, peaked at No. 14 in the U.S., but it was a Japanese album that primarily compiled tracks from previous albums and, as such, was not promoted in the same way in the United States. (It still accomplished its job, debuting at No. 1 in Japan and becoming the bestselling Japanese album of 2020.) 

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BE is on pace for a smaller debut than its Korean-language predecessor, Map of the Soul: 7, which opened with 422,000 album-equivalent units in February. But that doesn’t indicate a decline in the group’s popularity. Whereas Map of the Soul: 7 was available in four different physical versions that each contained different concept photos, BE is only available as a single deluxe edition that retails for approximately $50. For BTS to top the Billboard 200 and sell upwards of 200,000 pure copies of a $50 deluxe album is a testament to their tremendous popularity and passionate fan base. And, if BE matches or exceeds Map of the Soul: 7’s 75 million first-week streams, it will be doing so with less than half the tracks. 

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BE was preceded by the massive single “Dynamite,” which earned BTS their first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s other tracks will likely make a splash on the singles chart, particularly “Life Goes On,” which debuted at No. 7 on the U.S. Spotify chart and No. 3 on the global chart, where it stayed all weekend.