[Big Hit Entertainment YouTube channel]
SEOUL -- BTS member RM surprised the world by entering Billboard 200, a weekly chart ranking 200 popular albums in the United States, with an experimental mixtape album titled "mono.".
The 24-year-old rapper's album debuted at No. 26 on Billboard's albums chart. Billboard cited data from Nielsen Music that 21,000 equivalent album units were earned in the week ending October 25 and 16,000 were counted as traditional album sales. If a song is downloaded 10 times or streamed 1,500 times, it is counted as one traditional album sold.
RM's mixtape album was distributed for free of charge through music sharing services such as SoundCloud and sold on iTunes, Apple's online music service, and Spotify, an American music streaming service.
RM is now the highest-ranking K-pop solo artist ever listed on Billboard 200. Before the rapper, his bandmate J-Hope has his mixtape album "Hope" peaking at No. 38 in March this year.
