“Their next album 1M”: Netizens react as BTS’ ‘Map of the Soul: 7’ tops with biggest first week sales of K-pop albums on Billboard 200 of all time

BTS' Map of the Soul: 7 was released in 2020, before the global boy band took a break from group activities. But there seems to be no stopping the album from scaling new heights.

Following its release, the album achieved over 422,000 first-week sales on the Billboard 200, and this record has not been beaten by any other K-pop album for five years now.

Fans flocked to the replies section of a tweet from About Music on X to praise the stellar music project.

"5y still No.1," an ARMY wrote.

"the best album everrr," another commented.

"Their next album 1M," one chimed in with flame emojis.

"They haven’t put out a full length album in 5 years. But they are still on top," an X user said.

"Is been 5 years and no kpop act has been able to come close to this not even with their 123411 album versions," one added.

"BTS PAVED THE WAY," one ARMY declared.

"Deserved. This album was so iconic. Anyone who wants to delve into good Korean music should start here," one suggested.

Map of the Soul: 7 is BTS' seventh studio album, and was a massive global success. During its first six days upon release, the album accumulated over 3 million pre-orders. Forbes also reported that it exceeded 4 million pre-orders worldwide.

In Japan, the album surpassed Michael Jackson's Thriller (1984) record after selling over 429,000 copies, making BTS the first overseas artist to do so after 36 years.

"The genre is BTS": Global boy band discusses Map of the Soul: 7

BTS — RM, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga, and V had been luminaries even before unleashing Map of the Soul: 7 before their hiatus. The septet, which was breaking records left and right, talked about their valedictory work with GRAMMYs at the time of its release.

Leader RM shared:

"[Map Of The Soul: 7 is a] continuation from the album before, called Persona. And this time, we put the other two themes, shadow and ego, and we put it together into [this] album, called 7. The difference is [the] persona, which is like the social mask before the good things that we have, [like] the spotlight."

He went on:

"This time [on 7] we talked about the real shades and shadows that we had inside, and also the big manifesto that we admitted: all the shadows as our destinies and we're gonna carry on."

For the group, Map of the Soul: 7 isn't cooped up in one box of genre; rather, it's something "new." Suga, explained:

"I think it's less and less meaningful to divide music into genres now."

The other members chimed in:

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"The genre is BTS. That's the genre we want to make and the music that we want. New genre."

BTS hasn't released a full-group record since Map of the Soul: 7, and in 2022, the supergroup announced its hiatus. Since then, the members have focused on their solo careers.

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