ILLIT's 'Break Even' lands at No. 6, their first Billboard 200 top 10

ILLIT just cracked a chart that many K-pop acts spend years chasing. Their new mini album 'Break Even' has entered the Billboard 200, the main US albums chart, at No. 6.

It is the group's first time in the top 10.

What happened?

Billboard announced the result on Monday, Nov. 9 (US time), in its chart preview. The ranking covers the tracking week of Oct. 30 to Nov. 5.

This is the fifth ILLIT album to appear on the Billboard 200. The previous four stayed outside the top 10, so this one is a milestone.

How did they get there?

The Billboard 200 ranks albums by "units", which combine physical and digital album sales with streams and track downloads converted into album equivalents.

'Break Even' sold 32,500 physical copies. Its streaming-equivalent figure was 4,500 units, which works out to about 4.87 million streams.

Billboard said one thing in particular boosted sales: a 24-version CD package, each containing random photo cards and stickers. Fans who want the full set have plenty of reasons to buy more than one.

Anything else on the chart?

An old favourite made noise too. The album 'Thriller' climbed to No. 2 on the same chart. It last topped the Billboard 200 in the April 14, 1984 issue, so this is its highest placing in roughly 40 years.

Billboard credited Halloween: streams of the spooky title track rose with the season. New cassette and three vinyl editions also lifted its album sales by 335%.

A quick look back

ILLIT debuted on March 25, 2024, under HYBE's label Belift Lab with the mini album 'Super Real Me' and the lead single 'Magnetic'. Just two weeks later, on April 8, 'Magnetic' entered the Billboard Hot 100, which made ILLIT one of the fastest K-pop acts to chart there after debut.

Now the group has added a top 10 album to that list.