TUIDE just topped Billboard's Emerging Artists chart
HYBE's new girl group TUIDE just got its first Billboard week: No. 1 on Emerging Artists, World Albums No. 3, Top Album Sales No. 8. The debut EP already cleared 112,000 first-week copies at home.
Mina Park
TUIDE just got its first Billboard appearance, a month after debut, and it opened at the top of the developing-artist list.
The chart dated Sep. 26, posted yesterday in the U.S., put HYBE's new seven-member girl group at No. 1 on Emerging Artists. TUNE & PLAY, the Aug. 24 debut EP, landed at No. 3 on World Albums and No. 8 on Top Album Sales.
They also showed up at No. 78 on the Artist 100.
Our read: that is a U.S. sales print. Emerging Artists is the list you sit on before a top-25 on the Hot 100 or the Billboard 200.
Album sales did a lot of the work.
TUIDE is the first act from ABD, the girl-group label HYBE opened in May under president Noh Ji-won. The name means "tune the tide," said like "Tyoo-ih."
They started as Pledis trainees, then moved when the new label opened. Seohee, Seoyeon, Elena, Jia, Saki, Seah, and Yi Hani were born between 2006 and 2011.
Seoyeon is TWICE's Jihyo's younger sister. Elena is American, Jia is Korean American, Yi Hani is Korean British, and Saki is Japanese.
HYBE already has a U.S. girl group in KATSEYE. TUIDE debuted in Seoul with a multinational lineup and a softer groove.
They call the sound soultronic, warm R&B vocals over electronic tracks. GroovyRoom produced all five songs.
Han Sung-soo, the Pledis founder behind SEVENTEEN and TWS, oversaw the debut as ABD's master professional. They opened with a showcase at Yes24 Live Hall in Seoul on Aug. 24.
Leader Seohee said GroovyRoom told them not to sand their voices into one tone. Jia called the mix of energy and leisure the point, and said the first job is getting people to remember the name, then a Rookie of the Year trophy.
The title track is "SUN KISS." At home the first week was already loud.
Hanteo counted 112,282 copies of TUNE & PLAY, 10th among girl-group debut weeks on that tracker and the highest for a Korean female act that debuted this year.
"SUN KISS" sat at No. 1 on Apple Music's Today's Top 100: South Korea for nine straight days through Sep. 22. The EP also hit iTunes album charts in 22 countries.
The Myeongdong Shinsegae Square facade has been playing the video through tomorrow. Billboard is the first sign those albums also moved in the U.S.
Our take: Emerging Artists No. 1 is a first appearance. Watch whether "SUN KISS" still gets played after the debut cycle, and whether soultronic still sounds like a lane once the Hanteo week is old.
The album left Korea. The next chart has to say someone kept it on.
