Released on July 19, 2024, Jimin's sophomore album "MUSE", also consisting of six tracks, propelled his already tremendously successful solo career to even greater heights recording new unprecedented records not just for any K-pop solo artist but for any artist globally, cementing his name in history books as one of, if not the most successful solo K-pop idol in the history of the industry. Detailed here are some of the significant feats achieved.
Out of the six tracks in the album, three of them namely "Closer Than This", "Smeraldo Garden Marching Band" and "WHO", achieved an iTunes all-kill having reached #1 in every country that has an iTunes song chart (119 countries presently), a feat that no other artist in the world has ever achieved!"Be Mine" (English version) reached #1 in 60+ countries while the original version ranked #1 in 50+ countries.The album itself managed to top the iTunes album chart in 87 countries around the world!
The lead single 'WHO' debuted at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its first week of release. In its second week, for the first time in history, the industry witnessed a song by a K-pop artist climbing higher on this chart in the subsequent week when 'WHO' rose to #12!
It later went on to spend 33 consecutive weeks on the chart. breaking the record as the longest charting song by a K-pop idol in the history of the chart.
In terms of Certification, 'WHO' is BRIT Certified GOLD in the UK for selling over 400k units, the First & Only Solo Song by a Korean/K-pop artist this decade, and the First & Only Song by a male K-pop Soloist to achieve this in this decade. It is also RIAJ Certified GOLD in Japan for over 50M streams, in Spain for selling over 30k units, and in New Zealand as well. In Canada it has been Certified Platinum by Music Canada for selling over 80,000 units while the USA it is now eligible for RIAA 3x Platinum Certification for selling over 3M units.'WHO' also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global 200 (Excl. US) charts. Moreover, it remained atop both charts in its second week, making it the first time that a K-pop soloist has spent multiple weeks at #1 on these charts. Currently, it holds the record as the longest-charting solo song by a K-soloist in Billboard Global 200 (Excl. US) history.'MUSE' debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, tying the first album 'FACE' as the highest charting album by a K-pop solo artist on the chart. The EP went on to become the longest-charting album by a Korean Soloist on the Billboard 200 chart in history and the Longest-charting #1 Album by a K-Pop Soloist in Billboard World Albums chart history. It also became the first and only album by an Asian soloist to spend a full year in the Top 10 of the Billboard World Albums chart. In the USA, it is now eligible for RIAA GOLD Certification.
'WHO' managed to reach #1 on Spotify Global Daily and Weekly charts with a record highest stream volume for any Korean solo artist in history. In addition, it topped Spotify Daily charts in other key markets ranked among the biggest music markets in the world, including the USA and Japan (which rank 1st and 2nd biggest markets respectively) as the first solo song by a K-soloist to ever reach this peak.Since its release, 'WHO' now holds the record as the longest charting solo song by K-pop soloist on Spotify Global Daily Top Songs chart. It has also set records in different countries as the most streamed song on the Daily Song chart such as in Chile, USA, Venezuela, Mexico. Kazakhstan, South Korea, Brazil etc , and the longest charting song at #1 on the same chart, such as in South Korea, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil etc.
'Who' currently holds the record as the longest-charting track by a K-pop soloist on Worldwide Apple Music Song Chart!
It was possible to achieve such impressive chart performance particularly in terms of longevity due to our shift in strategy to focus more on premium streaming rather than relying on sales. Funding premium accounts all around the world across three major platforms namely Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube was key to our goals. For enabling this strategy to work as well as it did, we would like to say THANK YOU to all our donors!!