BTS is busy preparing for the release of their upcoming album Map of the Soul: 7, which is slated to hit store shelves, digital download sites and streaming platforms in just under one month, but that doesn’t mean their older titles have been forgotten. Instead, fans of the group seem to be consuming their back catalog in greater numbers now than ever before, perhaps because they simply can’t contain their excitement?
The band occupies half a dozen of the 15 available spots on Billboard’s World Albums chart this week, an incredible showing of popularity for any act on any tally. The septet dominates the highest tier, the top 10, as is usually the case, but that still doesn’t tell their whole story.
The group leads the way with Map of the Soul: Persona, the first in the new series of full-lengths from the beloved act. The title, which controlled the Billboard 200 last spring, returns to the throne for another stint. BTS replaces itself at No. 1 on the World Albums chart, as last week’s champion, their own Love Yourself: Answer, steps aside and settles at No. 2.
In a sign that fans are rushing to listen to older BTS tunes and sets, the vocal band’s Love Yourself: Tear, which last week was comfortable at No. 11, jumps to No. 3 this time around, giving them control over the highest three positions.
Further down inside the uppermost region, BTS comes in at Nos. 9 and 10, giving them five top 10 titles once again. Down to No. 9 is BTS World, a soundtrack which accompanied their mobile game of the same name, while just like Love Yourself: Tear, their even-older title You Never Walk Alone also bounces back into the loftiest area, landing at No. 10.
As if five top 10 simultaneous charters wasn’t enough of a show of dominance, BTS’s Love Yourself: Her also finds its way back to the World Albums list, which it manages from time to time. The set re-enters the race at No. 13, giving them six total placements this week.
It’s not uncommon to see BTS’s name appear more than once (or twice, or three times) on the World Albums chart, but six is very uncommon, and it suggests that as the street date for Map of the Soul: 7 approaches, listeners are pressing play on whatever they can to satiate their needs before they can finally hear something new.
cr. Forbes Contributors: Hugh Mclntyre.
I think people just see an article on BTS and press the downvote