South Korea’s massively popular musical export BTS recently kicked off the latest era of their impressive career with a slew of new music, including a new album (Love Yourself: Tear) and a single from the collection (“Fake Love”), both of which are being promoted globally. With all this music just making its way to fans, the group has now enjoyed its best week on several different charts in the U.K., and it only looks like things will get better from here.
The K-pop giants debuted their new Korean-language release Love Yourself: Tear at No. 8 on the U.K. albums tally, which easily stands as their best showing in one of the biggest music markets in the world. The title is their first top 10, and it bests the No. 14 peak of their 2017 EP Love Yourself: Her, which helped establish them as true chart successes in a number of territories.
When it comes to the songs chart across the pond, things aren’t going quite as spectacularly, but this frame still marks a personal best for BTS. “Fake Love,” which has emerged as the standout success taken from Love Yourself: Tear, is currently at No. 42 on the U.K. ranking, which now holds as their best placement on the ranking. It is frustratingly just two rungs from landing them their first Top 40-charter, which would give them their first real hit, at least as far as numbers are concerned.
No. 42 is just a few slots higher than their previous highest-ranking track, “MIC Drop,” which made it all the way to No. 46 last year, thanks in part to the addition of Steve Aoki and Desiigner, who both stepped in to raise the profile of the song and add their talents to an already fun tune. Before that, their biggest hit was their own “DNA,” which only rose as high as No. 90.
The current placements of both “Fake Love” and Love Yourself: Tear are both impressive, but the real story here is the rate at which BTS is improving their own records in a market where K-pop has never played very well. Only a few months separate the success of previous release Love Yourself: Her and its singles (both “DNA” and “MIC Drop” were featured on the short release) from the music they are currently focusing on, yet they have already managed to noticeably better their standing on the two most important charts.
At the rate they are releasing music and shooting it up the British charts, it might only be a few months, or perhaps a year at most until they are back with something new for fans, and if their pace keeps, they’ll rise even higher than ever before. It typically takes most artists years to do what BTS have in just a few months, and they’ve done so primarily working in a language not spoken by the majority of people in the country, so while they may not be at No. 1, the K-pop outfit’s success in the U.K. this week is truly incredible.
