Stray Kids Tie the Rolling Stones: Ninth Billboard 200 No. 1

What happened

On 16 August 2026 (U.S. time) Billboard reported that THIS & THAT, Stray Kids’ tenth EP, would debut at number one on the Billboard 200 dated 22 August — the group’s ninth number one on the main U.S. albums chart. Luminate counted 369,000 equivalent album units in the week ending 13 August, the group’s biggest week by units. Of those, 357,000 were traditional album sales, its best sales week, and the EP opened at number one on Top Album Sales as well.

The eight-track EP had been released on 7 August by JYP Entertainment, a day after the eight members — Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N — presented it at a press conference at the Conrad Seoul. 3RACHA — the in-house unit of Bang Chan, Changbin and Han — co-wrote and produced every track. The Korea Times described the title track as a hip-hop-based song that the group said emphasises a “chill” and “cool” mood; at the press event Changbin said the group had taken out some of the rougher, less familiar sounds of its earlier music to make the song easier to approach.

The singles chart followed. On the Hot 100 released on 18 August (U.S. time), ‘This & That’ debuted at number 38, the group’s highest position on that chart, according to the Korea Times.

Why is it trending?

What sets this number one apart is the record attached to it. All nine of Stray Kids’ Billboard 200 entries have debuted at number one, beginning with ODDINARY in 2022. When HOP opened at number one in 2024 the group became the first act to debut its first six entries at the top, and THIS & THAT extends that run to nine on a chart that has been published weekly since March 1956. Nine number ones also extends the group’s own record for the most by any group this century, and ties the Rolling Stones for the second-most number one albums by a group in the chart’s history; the Beatles lead every act with 19. Before this week, the Korea Times noted, Stray Kids was already the only K-pop group to have topped the chart eight times.

The composition of the week shows how the total was reached. Of the 369,000 units, 357,000 were album sales, 11,000 were streaming-equivalent units (12.21 million on-demand official streams of the EP’s songs) and 1,000 were track-equivalent units. Billboard ranked it the sixth-largest week by units for any album in 2026 and the second-largest sales week of the year. The larger sales week was the debut of BTS’s ARIRANG, at 532,000. The sales were helped by 17 CD and vinyl variants — all with collectible items such as photocards, posters and stickers, some randomised, including signed editions — plus eight digital download variants. Ariana Grande’s petal, the previous week’s number one, fell to number two with 82,000 units.

The album also arrived at the end of a long run-up. JYP’s official album page says the pre-release track ‘RUN IT’ topped iTunes Top Songs charts in 43 overseas regions on its release day, 24 June, and that the EP’s eight predecessors, from ODDINARY to the 2025 SKZ IT TAPE DO IT, had all entered the Billboard 200 at number one. The group opened its ‘RUN IT’ world tour with five KSPO Dome concerts in Seoul on 25, 26 and 29 July and 1 and 2 August, days before the comeback. JYP lists Tokyo’s National Stadium on 29 and 30 August as the next stop. Asked at the press event what the group hoped to achieve, Seungmin said it does not work toward a specific achievement and focuses on showing fans that it has given everything.

What you need to know

• THIS & THAT is Stray Kids’ tenth EP, released on 7 August 2026 with eight tracks: ‘RUN IT’, ‘This & That’, ‘After You’, ‘FARMING’, ‘I Do’, ‘Way Out’, ‘그날’ (literally, “that day”) and ‘This & That (Festival Version)’.
• On the Billboard 200 dated 22 August 2026 it debuted at number one with 369,000 equivalent album units for the week ending 13 August: 357,000 sales, 11,000 streaming-equivalent units and 1,000 track-equivalent units.
• All nine of the group’s Billboard 200 entries, from ODDINARY (2022) onward, have debuted at number one — a record it first set at six entries with HOP in 2024.
• Nine number ones ties the Rolling Stones for the second-most by a group in Billboard 200 history; the Beatles hold the overall record with 19.
• ‘This & That’ debuted at number 38 on the Hot 100 released on 18 August 2026, Stray Kids’ highest position on the U.S. singles chart.
• 3RACHA — Bang Chan, Changbin and Han, the group’s in-house production unit — co-wrote and produced every track.
• The official ‘This & That’ music video is on JYP Entertainment’s YouTube channel, uploaded on 7 August 2026.
• Announced dates include Tokyo’s National Stadium on 29 and 30 August, a September 2026 appearance at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil and the STRAYCITY festival in Bogota (9 September), Buenos Aires (14 September) and Mexico City (25 September), with JYP’s NEXZ on the lineup.