K-pop boy groups NCT, Stray Kids, and TXT have been regarded as the "new trio" in the K-pop industry, called "NST," owing to their notable milestones in the past months.
For the past few years, EXO, BTS, and SEVENTEEN, also known as the trio "EBS," are the most popular K-pop boy groups in South Korea. They have the highest sales for male groups in total, particularly millions of sales for most of the albums they released.
While EBS is still showing off its power in K-pop, their junior groups are now attracting attention and appear to be following in their footsteps.
NCT, Stray Kids, and TXT Regarded as the New Trio in K-pop, Called "NST"
NCT
First, SM Entertainment's boy group NCT is continuing its outstanding performance this year, selling more than one million copies of their albums one after another.
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NCT 127, one of the sub-units of NCT, recorded 1.32 million pre-orders in one day alone for their upcoming studio album "Sticker," hinting at another million-seller album following their second studio album "Neo Zone."
Prior to NCT 127, the sub-unit NCT Dream sold 2.5 million copies of their first full-length album "Hot Sauce" in May. The repackaged version of the album "Hello Future," released the following month, sold millions of copies as well, specifically 1.22 million copies.
In total, NCT Dream sold 3.27 million copies of their two albums in just two months. This is already impressive proof for NCT to be considered as one of the rising K-pop acts.
Stray Kids
Next, JYP Entertainment's eight-member boy group Stray Kids has also recently earned their first-ever million-seller title with their second full-length album "NOEASY," released on Aug. 23.
Stray Kids is the very first artist from JYP Entertainment to sell a million copies of their album in history.
On the day of the album's release (Aug. 23), the stock pre-orders for Stray Kids' "NOEASY" reached 930,000, breaking their record for highest pre-orders with the same album. It previously surpassed 830,000 pre-orders as of Aug. 17.
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On Aug. 31, which is nine days after the album was dropped, it was announced that the cumulative shipments for Stray Kids' "NOEASY" exceeded 1.1 million copies, which are over 500,000 copies more than the combined sales of the group's 2020 albums "GO LIVE" and "IN LIFE."
Regarding the views on YouTube of the music video for the title track "Thunderous," 50 million views within six days of the MV's release were accumulated.
So far, Stray Kids has taken home four music show wins with "Thunderous," the latest victory was on "Inkigayo," which is also their first-ever win on the program. Moreover, they are the first fourth-generation group to win on "Inkigayo."
TXT
Finally, Big Hit Music's five-member boy group TXT (TOMORROW X TOGETHER) is receiving a hot reaction from international fans like their senior group BTS. TXT is doing well, mainly on the popular Billboard charts.
In May, TXT released their second full-length album "The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE," which debuted at No. 5 on Billboard 200 and succeeded in staying on the tally for nine consecutive weeks, becoming the longest-running 2021 album by a K-pop artist on Billboard 200.
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For the week ending on Sept. 4, TXT's "The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE" re-entered Billboard 200, claiming the No. 8 spot. It has extended its record as the longest-charting 2021 album by a Korean act on the chart, spending 10 non-consecutive weeks.
Additionally, TXT has become the third K-pop artist in history to spend more than one week in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, following BTS and BLACKPINK.
In terms of sales, TXT has attained the sixth-highest first-week sales on any boy group in the history of the Hanteo Chart. "The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE" sold a total of 630,563 copies from May 1 to June 6.
Furthermore, TXT's latest album "The Chaos Chapter: FIGHT OR ESCAPE" recorded the third-highest first-week sales for a repackaged album in history, selling over 480,000 copies.
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Written by Mhaliya Scott
