NCT 127 Earn First Billboard 200 Entry With ‘Regular-Irregular’ Album
NCT 127 is sure to make their city and fans proud as their 'Regular-Irregular' album debuts at No. 86 on the Billboard 200, marking NCT 127's first appearance and the tenth-highest K-pop entry in…
NCT 127 is sure to make their city — and fans around the world — proud as the Seoul-based boy band scores major chart accomplishments with their first full-length album.
The 10-member K-pop group sees their Regular-Irregular album debut at No. 86 on the Billboard 200, marking NCT 127’s first appearance on America’s definitive albums chart. The set enters with 8,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 18, according to Nielsen Music.
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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Oct. 27-dated chart — where Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s A Star Is Born soundtrack holds at No. 1 for a second week — will be posted in full on Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
The NCT guys score their new chart feat after a remarkable amount of stateside activity leading up to the release including the debut performance of the album’s lead single “Regular” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, never-before-seen collaborations with Apple Music as the service’s first K-pop artist inducted to their Up Next campaign, red-carpet appearances on the American Music Awards and more.
Overall, NCT 127 now becomes the second-highest charting K-pop boy band on the Billboard 200. While BTS still reign as the first with two No. 1 albums in 2018 alone, the boys have risen ahead of male acts like EXO (who have sent two entries to the tally and peaked at No. 87 with The War in 2017) and BIGBANG (who have two entries as well and peaked at No. 150 with Made in 2012). Regular-Irregular is also the tenth-highest K-pop entry in Billboard 200 history.
With a name meant to represent Seoul, South Korea, NCT 127’s aim to show the city’s thriving pop scene and K-pop industry at large is exceptionally pulled off in a record that showcases the multifaceted aspects of the genre — with a knack for its most experimental moments.
Utilizing the Regular and Irregular motifs, the first half of the album utilizes a more of what could be expected from a — if you will — regular K-pop band doing what they do best via pristinely crafted K-pop. The Korean version of “Regular,” the ’90s-inspired R&B vibe of “Knock On,” the quintessential ballad in “No Longer” and the EDM-house-pop mix in “Replay (PM 01:27),” which acts as a Part 2 to an early 2017 track, all showcase K-pop at its finest and arguably most accessible. But the midway point of “Interlude: Regular to Irregular” mixes reflections about their careers and dreams into a dissonant pop smoothie of sounds before the hard-hitting hip-hop attitude in “My Van,” the genre-blurring electronic-funk in “Come Back,” the pounding-yet-uplifting “Fly Away With Me” and, of course, the English version of “Regular” that doesn’t just aim to rehash its Korean version but showcase yet another new side of the act as their first release in the language. Whether you’re looking for an easy introduction to Korean music or are ready for a deep dive, NCT 127 has something for you to help navigate the complex K-pop scene.
Elsewhere on the charts, the LP’s lead single “Regular” debuts at No. 2 on the World Digital Song Sales chart — tying the best position on the chart to date previously hit with 2016’s “Fire Truck” — with 3,000 downloads sold.
Check back to Billboard.com on Tuesday morning when all the charts are refreshed to see the full scope of NCT 127’s latest chart activity.
