NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY 21, 2020: (L-R) Jimin (Park Jimin), Jungkook (Jeon Jeongguk), Rap ... [+]
BTS member V almost scored a No. 1 on this week’s Digital Song Sales chart, the Billboard tally that ranks the bestselling tracks in the U.S. every frame. The musician’s new single “Sweet Night,” taken from the official soundtrack that accompanies the South Korean TV drama Itaewon Class, has become an instant hit on the list, and it has helped the man behind it make history among his countrymen.
“Sweet Night” debuts at No. 2 on the newly-published Digital Song Sales chart, as the track sold just over 11,000 copies in its first full frame. While it’s a bit disappointing that V couldn’t claim the throne this time around (he loses to The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” which sold another 16,000 copies this time around), his placement is still impressive, and historic.
V’s latest effort now stands as the second-highest-charting solo single by a Korean musician in the history of the Digital Song Sales chart. He is currently the only artist from that country to stop at No. 2, and only one song has performed better than “Sweet Night.”
Back in 2012, Psy’s international smash “Gangnam Style” rose all the way to the top of the tally, and all those sales helped it lift to No. 2 on the Hot 100.
Before this week, J-Hope’s “Chicken Noodle Soup” stood as the second-highest-charting song in the history of the Digital Song Sales tally when it comes to solo Korean musicians. The fellow BTS member reached No. 9 in 2019 with his upbeat multi-lingual tune, which combines English, Korean and Spanish, as it features Latin pop superstar Becky G. Now that cut has been pushed to third place when looking solely at those tunes promoted by Korean acts operating on their own.
As a member of BTS, V has reached the top spot three times, with “Fake Love,” “Idol” and “On,” all of which took turns running the show. He has also stalled one rung shy of the peak position twice with the septet, first with “Black Swan” and then again a short while later with “My Time.” Both of those cuts, credited to BTS as a group (even though the later is a solo by another performer in the band), reached the runner-up spot this year.
