Hot 100 First-Timers: Stray Kids Debut With ‘LALALALA’ From New No. 1 Album ‘ROCK-STAR’

Stray Kids are officially Billboard Hot 100-charting artists, as the group scores its first entry on the Nov. 25-dated list with “LALALALA.”

The song, released Nov. 10 on the group’s new album ROCK-STAR, debuts at No. 90 on the Hot 100 with 6.1 million U.S. streams and 3,000 downloads sold in the Nov. 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The set launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 224,000 equivalent album units earned in its opening week. It’s the group’s fourth No. 1 (encompassing all of its entries), after ODDINARY (in 2022), MAXIDENT (2022) and 5-STAR (2023). Stray Kids become the first act to debut their first four chart entries atop the chart since Alicia Keys in 2001-07, when she achieved the feat with Songs in A Minor (2001), The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), the live set Unplugged (2005) and As I Am (2007).

All four of Stray Kids’ albums have topped the Billboard 200 in a span of nearly 20 months. That’s the fastest accumulation of four No. 1s since Taylor Swift notched four in just under 16 months with Folklore, Evermore, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) between August 2020 and November 2021.

While “LALALALA” earns Stray Kids their first career entry on the Hot 100, the group has already made a mark on several other Billboard charts. The act scored its first overall appearance on the chart dated Nov. 18, 2017, when “Hellevator” debuted and peaked at No. 6 on World Digital Song Sales. Since then, the group has charted 52 total hits on World Digital Song Sales (as of this week), the third-most in the chart’s 13-year history, after BTS (148) and EXO (81). Of Stray Kids’ 52 entries, four have hit No. 1: “Mixtape : OH,” “Maniac,” “Case 143,” and, as of this week, “LALALALA.”

The group has also charted 16 titles on World Albums, tied with Red Velvet for the fifth-most among K-pop acts, after GOT7 (19), SEVENTEEN (18), BTS (17) and TWICE (17). Of those 16 sets, four have hit No. 1.

Stray Kids have also logged seven songs on the Billboard Global 200 and 15 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S.

Stray Kids are the seventh K-pop group in history to chart on the Hot 100. They follow Wonder Girls (who earned their first entry in 2009), BTS (2017), BLACKPINK (2018), TWICE (2021), NewJeans (2023) and FIFTY FIFTY (2023).

Stray Kids, signed to JYP Entertainment, comprises Bang Chan, Changbin, Felix, Han, Hyunjin, I.N, Lee Know and Seungmin.

Xander Zellner

Billboard