TWICE Earn First No. 1s on Both World Albums & World Digital Song Sales Charts

11/7/2017 by Jeff Benjamin

do not reuse — Courtesy Photo

TWICE "LIKEY"

The ninesome became only the second K-pop act -- and the first female one -- to lead both World charts.

Fans have proven how much they truly "likey" the latest comeback from TWICE as K-pop's latest girl group sensation tops multiple Billboard charts this week with both their new album and single.

To kick things off, TWICE earn their first No. 1 on the World Albums chart. The ninesome's recently released Twicetagram album had 1,000 copies sold in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Nielsen Music and marking the best-selling K-pop album in America this week. Twicetagram also marks the group's best first-week sales in America as the girl group's first full-length album likely contributing even more excitement. To date, TWICE have landed all five of their past EPs on World Albums starting with The Story Begins (which hit No. 15 in January 2016 when it was made available in America, despite being released in Korea in 2015), Page Two (which hit No. 6 in May 2016), Twicecoaster: Lane 1 (No. 3 in November 2016), Twicecoaster: Lane 2 (No. 4 in February 2017), and most recently Signal (No. 3 last June).

TWICE also continue their rise on the Heatseekers Albums chart as Twicetagram debuts at No. 10 on the ranking, one position higher than Signal's No. 11 peak, and their latest accomplishment on a ranking that sees far fewer K-pop acts. The LP is only the 11th K-pop album to make it in the Top 10 of the Heatseekers chart this year.

Fans also gravitated to the act's new single "Likey" as the addictive, futuristic-pop cut debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart with 3,000 downloads and the group's best-ever sales week for a song. The chart-topping single puts TWICE in an elite group of artists who have topped World Digital Songs joining BTS (who have five No. 1s), PSY (with four), BIGBANG and Blackpink (both three), 2NE1 and EXO (both with two) and G-Dragon and Taeyang (with one).

The success is even more impressive as Twicetagram and "Likey" make TWICE the first female K-pop act to lead on both Billboard's World Albums and World Digital Song Sales chart. To date, the only other act who has pulled off that feat is BTS who have made the hat trick happen three times: once last year with "Blood, Sweat & Tears" and Wings, and two times this year with "Spring Day" and You Never Walk Alone, plus "DNA" and Love Yourself: Her.

TWICE previously hit as high as No. 2 when "TT" hit the runners-up spot in late 2016 on World Digital Song Sales. TWICE has sent all six of their singles to the Top 10 the tally, starting with "Like Ooh-Ahh" (which hit No. 6), followed by "Cheer Up" (No. 3), "TT" (No. 2), "Knock Knock" (No. 5) and "Signal" (No. 3). This is also the first time JYP Entertainment, the group's label and entertainment agency, has led the ranking. To date, only three other Korean agencies have hit No. 1 on World Digital Songs with YG Entertainment boasting 13 leaders, Big Hit Entertainment with five, and SM Entertainment with two.

But the domination doesn't stop there. The group's first original Japanese single "One More Time" also rises into the Top 10 of World Digital Song Sales as the Japan Hot 100 No. 1 hit leaps from No. 15 to No. 8 this week making TWICE one of the rare groups who can chart successfully both their Korean and Japanese material in America. All the recent chart success indicate the U.S. may very well have a new K-pop supergroup on its hands.