The K-pop girl group's latest also marks their best sales week for an album.
ITZY “wannabe” at the top of the charts, and the K-pop girl group took another big step toward that with their latest release.
The quintet’s It’z Me album debuts at No. 5 on Billboard‘s World Albums chart this week, marking the group’s highest position on the chart to date. The new release earned 2,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 12, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of that total, 1,000 came from album sales.
It’z Me not only surpasses the initial chart position of It’z Icy, which marked ITZY’s first entry on the chart this past summer when the EP started at No. 11, but also ITZY’s best sales week for an album in the U.S. with It’z Icy also selling around 1,000 copies but the final total from Me slightly edging out Icy.
ITZY also earn their latest Top 5 hit on World Digital Song Sales as new single “Wannabe” starts at No. 4 on the chart, selling 1,000 copies in the week ending March 12. ITZY has earned five entries in total on World Digital Song Sales, their highest position being No. 2 with their debut single “Dalla Dalla” so far.
Elsewhere on the charts, ITYZ also return to the Emerging Artists chart, hitting No. 31 for their third week on the tally. This is their highest position on the chart that ranks artist activity across the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Social 50, among others.
Just like their past releases “Dalla Dalla” and “Icy,” ITZY continue their string of empowering and confident singles with the most striking difference in It’z Me coming from the group’s overall sound becoming harder and featuring more electronic productions. “Wannabe” employs a churning combo of house and hip-hop/pop production for the girls to mix in a bubblegum-pop melodies and proclaim “I don’t wannabe somebody, just wannabe me.” The record also enlists some unexpected, fresh collaborators like Dance Club Songs chart-topper Oliver Heldens (who features on the rowdy-yet-fierce EDM cut “Ting Ting Ting”) and hyperkinetic singer-producer SOPHIE (who worked on the quirky-pop stomper “24HRS” to close the album), all of which continue to show the girl group exploring new areas in the K-pop scene and carving out their own musical identity.
Watch the “Wannabe” music video, as well as one of the first live performances from Korean music program M Countdown, below: