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BTS shoots a performance of their single “Dynamite” that was aired at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. (provided by Big Hit Entertainment)

BTS set another record by topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for a second straight week with its song “Dynamite.” Meanwhile, Blackpink moved up to No. 13 on the same chart with its song “Ice Cream” (recorded with US artist Selena Gomez), setting a new record for the best chart performance by a female K-pop act. Observers are seeing this as proof that South Korean pop groups have emerged as part of the mainstream in the US music market.

On Sept. 8, Billboard announced that the BTS song “Dynamite” would retain the top spot on the Hot 100 for its second week on the chart (as of Sept. 12). In the first week after the single’s debut, BTS became the first South Korean act to reach the top spot on the Hot 100.

Just 43 songs have debuted at No. 1 in history of Hot 100

In the history of the Billboard Hot 100, just 43 songs have debuted at No. 1 immediately after going on sale, putting “Dynamite” in the company of songs by such artists as Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. According to Billboard, “Dynamite” is just the 20th such song to have remained in the top spot for a second straight week after its debut.

The same day, the US business magazine Forbes wrote, “The continued chart success and stellar week-two sales of ‘Dynamite’ prove one of two things: Either BTS’ fanbase has grown dramatically, or it’s stayed the same size and each fan has gotten a lot richer.” It went to say that topping the chart “might just prove to be [BTS’s] new normal.”

In addition to BTS’ success, Blackpink also rose to No. 13 on the Hot 100 in a best-ever performance for a female South Korean act. Blackpink’s previous best result on the chart was a two-way tie between “How You Like That,” a single released by the group earlier this year, and “Sour Candy,” a collaboration with Lady Gaga. Both of those songs peaked at No. 33 -- meaning that the group’s new best result has already moved 20 rungs higher. Blackpink made its Hot 100 debut in 2018 with “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” which reached No. 55. It followed that up with other appearances by “Kiss and Make Up,” a collaboration with UK pop singer Dua Lipa that reached No. 93 the same year, and “Kill This Love,” which hit No. 41 after its release last year. Billboard explained, “Blackpink is the first such act to link three consecutive top 40 hits since Fifth Harmony, which strung together four in four straight appearances in 2015-16.”

Billboard’s music charts are broadly divided into singles charts like the Hot 100, which rank the most popular songs in the US, and album charts like the Billboard 200, which rank album sales. Hot 100 ranking calculations are based on a combination of downloads, streaming, YouTube views, and radio airplay, while Billboard 200 rankings are based on downloads and streaming of whole albums and individual tracks.

By Kim Kyung-wook, staff reporter

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