BTS has become the first South Korean group to debut in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with ”Dynamite,” the group’s first song performed fully in English, according to USA Today.
“Dynamite” had 33.9 million U.S. streams and 300,000 units sold during the week ending August 27, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The song also drew 11.6 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending August 30, according to Billboard.
“The goal of ‘Dynamite’ is really simple … to explore the world with positive vibes and energy,” group member RM said. “We’ve been through all the sadness and desperation, but with this song and performance we just hope the world gets more positive.”
RM, J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, Suga, and V make up the seven-member group. They said the most difficult thing about the song was trying to get the English pronunciations correct. There have so far been 265,000 downloads sold among its overall first-week total of 300,000, which includes its vinyl and cassette physical versions. The song also debuted with the biggest digital sales week since September 16, 2017, when Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” was released with 353,000. “Dynamite” was released on August 21 on BigHit Entertainment/Columbia Records.
The group first launched seven years ago with the song “No More Dream” from their debut album “2 Cool 4 Skool.” They were also the first K-pop group to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 200 two years ago.
