For the first time ever, K-pop groups have the biggest albums on the U.S. charts : NPR

This week’s look at the pop charts is highlighted by a huge moment for K-pop music — the top two spots on the Billboard 200 are both occupied by South Korean artists for the first time ever — as well as the highest-charting movie soundtrack of 2024 so far. Over on the songs chart, our Very Shaboozey Summer continues.

TOP ALBUMS

Korean pop music has topped the Billboard 200 albums chart many times in recent years, but this week represents a milestone: For the first time in chart history, K-pop artists hold the chart’s top two spots. With Ate, Stray Kids is now the first-ever group to make its debut atop the Billboard 200 with its first five charting releases, while BTS member Jimin enters the Billboard 200 at No. 2 with his new album, Muse.

It’s a major show of strength for K-pop. The competition is strong — last week’s No. 1, Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace), drops to No. 3, while Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department holds steady at No. 4 — though next week’s numbers will be significant, given the frequency with which K-pop albums drop down the charts after strong debuts. (Last week’s big K-pop debut, Enhypen’s Romance: Untold, plunged from No. 2 to No. 21 this week.)

The other debut in this week’s Top 10 marks a milestone of its own: The country-laden 29-song soundtrack to the blockbuster disaster movie Twisters enters the Billboard 200 at No. 7, making it the highest-charting soundtrack of the year so far — and the first predominantly country-music soundtrack to hit the Top 10 since January 2014, when the chart was enriched by the presence of the Duck Dynasty-adjacent holiday album Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas. (The last country-filled movie soundtrack to hit the Top 10 was the Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle Country Strong, which reached No. 6 in 2011.)

Rounding out the Top 10 are Zach Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene (which drops from No. 3 to No. 5), Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (from No. 5 to No. 6), Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (from No. 7 to No. 8), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (from No. 6 to No. 9) and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (holding at No. 10).

TOP SONGS

Unlike the albums chart, the songs chart looks unusually static this week.

For the second week in a row (and third week overall), the Hot 100 is topped by country singer Shaboozey and his unbeatable “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” The track seems to be gaining steam as July turns to August: It’s at or near the top of many Billboard charts, including those that monitor radio airplay, streaming, sales, country music, pop music and more. And it’s only the second song by a Black artist, after Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” earlier this year, to top both the Hot 100 and the Hot Country Songs charts on Billboard.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” isn’t the only country juggernaut to dominate this week: Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” which features Morgan Wallen, holds at No. 2 after six weeks atop the chart earlier in the summer. In fact, the entire Top 5 is a repeat of last week, with Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” at No. 3, Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” at No. 4 and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” at No. 5.

The rest of the Top 10 offers minimal movement, as well: Hozier’s “Too Sweet” rises from No. 7 to No. 6, switching places with Carpenter’s “Please Please Please”; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” holds at No. 8, marking its 28th straight week in the Top 10; Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” holds at No. 9; and Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” returns to No. 10 after dipping to No. 11 last week. (Roan has a personal-best six songs on this week’s Hot 100, with notable climbs for “Hot To Go!,” “Red Wine Supernova,” “Pink Pony Club,” “Casual” and new chart entry “Femininomenon.”)

WORTH NOTING

There’s an alternate universe — perhaps one where it’s still 2013? — in which Katy Perry’s “Woman’s World” is battling to be the cliché-festooned empowerment anthem of the summer. Alas, that outpost of the multiverse is nowhere in sight, as Perry’s lavishly dunked-on, co-produced-by-Dr. Luke single plummets following last week’s anemic debut (at No. 63!) and drops off the Hot 100 entirely.

Perry surely envisioned “Woman’s World” as the soundtrack to a woman-led political uprising — sort of the way her hit “Roar,” Sara Bareilles’ “Brave” and Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” turned up at Hillary Clinton rallies in 2016. Instead, at least for now, the song soundtracking that moment is … from 2016, in this case Beyoncé’s “Freedom.” Buoyed by its Beyoncé-approved presence in Kamala Harris’ rallies and campaign ads, the song could well resurface on the charts in future weeks as the Democratic National Convention approaches.