Jungkook joins BTS bandmate Jimin as the second K-Soloist to top the Billboard Top 100, but who’s in second?

It’s been a weekend to remember for BTS member Jungkook, with his solo outing “Seven” featuring Latto becoming the highest entry on the UK singles chart for a K-Soloist, landing in third position and winning more British fans through appearances on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge and “The One Show” last Friday.

But conquering the United Kingdom wasn’t enough, as the K-Wave continues in the West, with “Seven” officially the number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, equalling a record set by his bandmate, Jimin, who achieved the feat with “Like Crazy” in March of this year, as the pair become the only K-Pop soloists to achieve this feat in the United States - so far.

In doing so, Jungkook has also helped Latto attain her first number-one position on the Billboard chart, elevating her career after previously peaking at number 32 with "Big Energy" in April 2022. 

During its first week of release, “Seven” received a total of 269,000 downloads and 217.1 million streams were recorded worldwide for the song,  surpassing Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" and becoming the biggest week for a song by a solo artist since the chart's inception. The song also secured the second-largest overall streaming week ever, with only BTS' "Butter" ahead of it, amassing 289.2 million streams on June 5, 2021.

Billboard has also confirmed that the single has also topped its Global 200 chart, which ranks the top songs globally and is based on digital sales and online streaming from over 200 territories worldwide.

However, number two on the Billboard Top 100 has equally gotten people talking, but with more concerns over the burgeoning K-Pop takeover that BTS and the plethora of other acts from South Korea and closer to home in the United States.

Jason Aldean charts second on the Billboard Top 100

After a week of controversy surrounding both the lyrics and music video for his single, Jason Aldean has nonetheless managed to attain second place this week on the Billboard Top 100 chart. Aldean came under security, as Heather Carrick reported, over what is considered racist undertones throughout his song, “Try That In A Small Town.” 

Despite taking barbs from Sheryl Crow and his music video effectively banned on CTV, Luminate, which tracks music sales and streams, says the song’s on-demand audio and video streams have increased by 999 per cent — from 987,000 to 11.7 million — in the week after the chatter about the song exploded online.

Sales for the song are up as well: For the week before the controversy, the track only sold 1,000 units; last week it sold 228,000 units, however, those worried about the discourse surrounding the song and its effect on UK listeners need not worry - the song entered at 26 on the UK singles chart at currently looks to be slowing down in terms of streams compared to in the United States.