On April 8, BTS member Jimin broke numerous records on the Billboard chart with his song “Like Crazy,” the main track of his first studio album FACE. Jimin became the first Korean soloist to rank No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, breaking PSY’s previous record of No. 2 with his hit song “Gangnam Style” in 2012. 

Previously, the only Korean act who ranked No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart was BTS. Six of the group’s songs—“Dynamite,” “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat),” “Life Goes On,” “Butter,” “Permission To Dance,” and “My Universe”—were able to achieve this record, starting from 2020. Jimin has become the first member of BTS to achieve this feat outside of the group, demonstrating his worldwide popularity and influence. 

“Although I wouldn’t really call myself a fan of BTS or Jimin, I am really proud of this huge achievement,” Jennie Koh (11), K-pop fan, said. “I also really like his new album and think his No. 1 is well deserved.”

However, Jimin also experienced the biggest fall from the position, falling from No. 1 to No. 45 in the next week. One of the main reasons for Jimin’s huge success on the chart was because of his album sales, selling over 200,000 copies within its first week of release. After a week, however, there was a seeming decline to less than 15,000 copies in the next week, according to Forbes. 

Fans were angered by this news, as HITS Daily Double had previously reported that Jimin sold more than 120,000 units, but Forbes, the source of sales information for Billboard charts, reported much less. Then fans started to accuse Billboard of changing its rules again in order to prevent Jimin from charting consecutively. 

Billboard has not responded to these claims, and therefore it is difficult to determine whether the rules have really changed. Regardless, it is clear that Jimin has made history with this significant achievement.