soundtrack

The soundtrack to Netflix’s animated film KPop Demon Hunters hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time, rising 2-1 on the chart dated Sept. 20, after seven nonconsecutive weeks in the runner-up slot. The set earned 128,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Sept. 11 (up 7%), according to Luminate, marking the album’s best week yet. The surge to No. 1 follows the album’s deluxe reissue on Sept. 5 with additional tracks, plus the wide release of its CD that day.

KPop Demon Hunters’ rise to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 was preceded by four top 10-charted hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart — the most from a soundtrack in nearly 30 years, with the soundtrack the first ever with four simultaneous top 10s. Among those is the No. 1 “Golden” by HUNTR/X — the trio of EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI (the singing voices of the film’s characters Rumi, Mira and Zoey).

KPop Demon Hunters is the Billboard 200’s first No. 1 soundtrack in three-and-a-half years, since another animated film, Encanto, saw its companion album spend nine nonconsecutive weeks on top (Jan. 15-March 19, 2022).

Notably, as KPop Demon Hunters climbs to No. 1 in its 12th week on the chart, it completes the longest wait to reach No. 1 since Toby Keith’s 2008 release 35 Biggest Hits re-entered the chart at No. 1 on the Feb. 17, 2024-dated list, following his death that Feb. 5. The last album with a longer continuous climb to No. 1 than KPop Demon Hunters was The Kid LAROI’s F*ck Love, which jumped 26-1 in its 53rd consecutive chart week, on the Aug. 7, 2021, list. The latter vaulted to No. 1 following two reissues during that tracking week.

Meawhile, the last soundtrack to take a longer journey to No. 1 was O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which rose 2-1 in its 63rd continuous week on the chart, on the March 23, 2002-dated list. Its ascent to the top was aided by its Grammy Award win for album of the year at the 44th annual ceremony that Feb. 27.

Plus, KPop Demon Hunters spent seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 before reaching No. 1. That’s the longest wait an album endured in the runner-up spot before leading the Billboard 200 in nearly a half-century: In October-November 1977, Linda Ronstadt’s Simple Dreams logged nine weeks at No. 2 before topping the chart at last. (Stray Cats’ Built for Speed holds the record for the most weeks peaking at No. 2: 15 in 1982-83.)

Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200: Justin Bieber’s SWAG vaults 17-4 following its deluxe expansion with 23 additional tracks, and sombr’s I Barely Know Her reaches the top 10 for the first time, rising 12-10 in its third week, following the artist’s performance on the MTV Video Music Awards (Sept. 7).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 20, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Sept. 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of KPop Demon Hunters’ 128,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 103,000 (up less than 1%, equaling 141.08 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks — it rises 2-1 on Top Streaming Albums for its first week on top), album sales comprise 23,000 (up 56%; it’s pushed down 3-4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 7%).

In the tracking week, the soundtrack got a boost from its deluxe reissue as a digital download and streaming album on Sept. 5 with 23 additional tracks. The additional cuts are mostly sing-along, instrumental and a cappella versions of the album’s hit songs. The album’s sales gain was aided by the wide release of its standard 12-track CD to brick-and-mortar retailers. It is available in five CD variants, each containing a poster and randomized photocard. A vinyl release for the project is expected Oct. 17.

KPop Demon Hunters premiered on June 20 in a limited theatrical release in the U.S. (in three movie theaters), and on Netflix, alongside its soundtrack. The film returned to theaters, this time nationwide, for a limited engagement on Aug. 23-24 as a sing-along version. The same sing-along version hit Netflix on Aug. 25.

In the tracking week ending Sept. 7, the animated film was No. 2 in its 12th week on Netflix’s Top 10 Movies in United States chart, with four of those weeks at No. 1. The movie now stands as the most popular original Netflix film to date.

KPop Demon Hunters is the seventh animated film soundtrack to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, since the list began publishing on a regular weekly basis in March 1956. It follows Encanto (nine weeks at No. 1, 2022), Frozen II (one week, 2019), Frozen (13, 2014), Jack Johnson’s Curious George (one, 2006), Pocahontas (one, 1995) and The Lion King (10, 1994-95).

KPop Demon Hunters ends a dry spell for soundtracks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s been three years and six months since Encanto spent its ninth and final week atop the list (dated March 19, 2022). That’s the longest the chart has gone without a soundtrack at No. 1 since the three-year and nearly eight-month gap between the second and final week at No. 1 for Armageddon (July 25, 1998) and the first of two weeks at No. 1 for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (March 23, 2002).

Back on the latest Billboard 200, Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend falls to No. 2 with 119,000 equivalent album units earned (down 68%) after debuting at No. 1 a week ago. Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping I’m the Problem is a non-mover at No. 3 with 98,000 (down 6%).

Justin Bieber’s SWAG surges 17-4 with 80,000 equivalent album units (up 223%) after it was surprise reissued in a deluxe edition as a digital download and streaming album on Sept. 5 with 23 additional tracks. The deluxe edition is dubbed SWAG II and contains the original SWAG album’s 21 tracks, along with an additional 23 bonus tracks. The original SWAG album was also a surprise affair, arriving on July 11 with little notice; it debuted at its No. 2 best. All versions of SWAG are combined for tracking and charting purposes.

SWAG also gets an assist from the release of the standard 21-track album’s release on CD and via two deluxe CD boxed sets (each containing a branded T-shirt and a copy of the standard SWAG album).

Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid is a non-mover at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 38,000 equivalent album units earned (up less than 1%). SZA’s chart-topping SOS climbs 9-6 (just over 33,000, down 2%), Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time dips 6-7 (33,000, down 6%), Stray Kids’ chart-topping KARMA falls 4-8 (32,000, down 49%), and Gunna’s The Last Wun falls 8-9 (31,000, down 10%).

Closing out the top 10 is sombr’s debut studio album I Barely Know Her, which rises 12-10 in its third week on the chart — and its first week in the top 10. The set earned 29,000 equivalent album units in the latest tracking week (up 5%). The rise comes after sombr performed a medley of the album’s “Back to Friends” and “12 to 12” on the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on CBS on Sept. 7. Prior to the album’s ascent to the top 10, its singles “Back to Friends” and “Undressed” both hit the top 30 of the Hot 100 and the top 20 of the all-genre Streaming Songs chart.

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