K-pop 4th generation leading girl group LE SSERAFIM has finally broken into the US Billboard’s main singles chart, the ‘Hot 100’.
According to Billboard on the 5th (local time), LE SSERAFIM’s title track ‘Easy’ from their third mini-album released on the 19th of last month entered the ‘Hot 100’ chart at 99th place on the 9th. ‘Easy’ distinguishes itself from LE SSERAFIM’s previous powerful songs by delving into the ‘easy listening’ genre, grounded in the Trap genre with R&B styled vocals. The track saw participation from their longtime lead producer Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, and the producer team ’13’ who have been collaborating with LE SSERAFIM since their debut album ‘FEARLESS’.
Achieving this milestone in just 1 year and 10 months since debut, LE SSERAFIM leveraged their first English single ‘Perfect Night’, which stayed on Billboard’s ‘Bubbling Under Hot 100’ chart for two consecutive weeks, marking a career high, to boost their recognition and subsequently enter the ‘Hot 100’. The ‘Bubbling Under Hot 100’ chart lists the tracks that are close to entering the top 100, up to the 25th position. ‘Easy’ also performed well on Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, raising expectations for its ‘Hot 100’ entry. It entered Spotify’s ‘Weekly Top Songs USA’ chart at a team-best 117th place for the latest chart period (February 23 to 29), aided by the release of ‘Easy’s remix version among others.
LE SSERAFIM becomes the sixth K-pop girl group to enter the ‘Hot 100’, following Wonder Girls, BLACKPINK, TWICE, NewJeans, and FIFTY FIFTY. Including boy groups such as BTS and Stray Kids, they are the eighth K-pop act to achieve this. Among solo artists, all members of BTS, BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Rosé, Jennie, and Psy have made it to the ‘Hot 100’. The ‘Hot 100’ is considered a significant indicator of mainstream acceptance in the US pop market, with higher barriers to entry compared to the ‘Billboard 200’, incorporating physical single and digital song sales, streaming figures, radio airplay, and YouTube views. LE SSERAFIM’s entry into the ‘Hot 100’ demonstrates their solidifying position in the local scene, despite the ‘Billboard 200’ typically being where K-pop groups see success, primarily supported by a dedicated fanbase rather than broad mainstream popularity. Furthermore, LE SSERAFIM’s third mini-album ‘Easy’ has entered this week’s main album chart ‘Billboard 200’ at 8th place, marking their second consecutive top 10 entry following their first full album ‘UNFORGIVEN’ which reached 6th place. Their second mini-album ‘ANTIFRAGILE’ had debuted on the ‘Billboard 200’ at 14th place just six months after debut.
Source: newsis.com
