MUSIC
Le Seraphim's new album 'EASY' received 'Gold' certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan
According to an announcement by the Japan Record Association on the 8th, Le Seraphim's (Kim Chae-won, Sakura, Heo Yun-jin, Kazuha, Hong Eun-chae)'s 3rd mini album 'EASY' received 'Gold' certification with cumulative shipments exceeding 100,000 copies as of February. This is the second time that Le Seraphim has received 'Gold' certification for an album released in Korea, after their first full-length album 'UNFORGIVEN' in May of last year. It is an unusual achievement among K-pop artists to exceed 100,000 copies shipped two times in a row with a work that is not a Japanese album.
Le Seraphim swept the weekly album and weekly total album categories in Japan's Oricon's latest ranking (as of March 4/counting period February 19-25) with 'EASY'. 'EASY' attracted attention by setting a new record for the team's own highest sales and points, far surpassing the previous work's performance on both charts. In particular, the initial sales of 107,000 copies recorded by Le Seraphim in Oricon's weekly album rankings with 'EASY' (album sales for one week based on the release date) is a performance comparable to that of teams capable of performing local dome tours.
Less than two years after debuting, Le Seraphim ranked as the ‘top’ girl group in Japan. In the Japanese market, where loyalty to existing artists is high, it is very unusual for an artist to conquer the top spot in such a short period of time. Attention is being paid to the records that these K-pop girl groups will set in the future as they have successively set the first, shortest, and highest records for a local K-pop girl group.
Meanwhile, Le Seraphim showed off its global popularity by penetrating not only the Korean and Japanese markets, but also the two main charts of the US Billboard. The 3rd mini album 'EASY' ranked 8th on the US Billboard's latest (as of March 9) main album chart 'Billboard 200'. The title song of the same name as the album entered the main song chart ‘Hot 100’ at number 99. With this, Le Seraphim became the fourth K-pop girl group in history to dominate the two main charts of the US Billboard, following Blackpink, Twice, and New Jeans.
Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr
