K-pop groups DAY6 and aespa made a powerful impact on the music scene on September 5. Both groups released new albums that immediately rose on domestic and international charts.
DAY6 dropped a special album, The Decade, to celebrate their 10th debut anniversary. aespa, on the other hand, made their second comeback of the year with Rich Man, right after opening their world tour, SYNK: aeXIS LINE, last month.
DAY6’s ‘The Decade’ Achieves Their Highest 1st-Day Sales
Rock band DAY6 returned with their fourth full-length album, The Decade, featuring double title tracks Dream Bus and Inside Out. By September 6 at 10 a.m. KST, both songs had climbed into the upper ranks of Melon’s Top 100, South Korea’s largest music chart. Dream Bus landed at No. 9, while Inside Out followed closely at No. 13.
The success extended across the album, with all tracks entering the chart: Disco Day at No. 38, Before the Stars at No. 46, and My Way at No. 49.
To mark the release, the members held a live countdown broadcast on their official YouTube channel, where they shared their excitement about releasing a full album after a long gap. In addition, they signed a contract renewal with JYP Entertainment to celebrate this milestone.
In terms of sales, The Decade set a new personal best for the band with 90,159 copies sold on its first day, far surpassing their previous record of 42,756 for Band Aid. It also surpasses earlier albums like The Book of Us: Negentropy (34,546) and The Book of Us: The Demon (30,174). The album also entered the Worldwide iTunes Album Chart at No.15.
aespa’s ‘Rich Man’ Tops iTunes Charts in 14 Countries
Meanwhile, girl group aespa continued their streak of global success with their sixth mini-album Rich Man, also released on September 5. According to SM Entertainment, the album immediately soared to the top of iTunes Top Albums charts in 14 countries, including Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and Russia. It also entered the top 10 in 29 countries such as the United States, France, Canada, Italy, and Japan.
In China, the album achieved Platinum certification on QQ Music for surpassing 1 million yuan (approximately 200 million won) in digital album sales.
The title track Rich Man quickly made its way onto domestic charts, entering Melon’s Top 100 at No. 10 by the morning of September 6. In an interview with British music magazine NME, aespa explained that the song carries a message of confidence and self-love. They emphasized that true richness comes from believing in oneself rather than material wealth.
On the sales front, Rich Man recorded 822,671 copies on its debut day, securing aespa’s second-highest first-day sales to date. For comparison, their 2023 album MY WORLD recorded 1,372,929 copies on day one, making it their career best. Other albums include Girls with 806,891, Dirty Work at 781,951, Whiplash at 562,980, Drama at 529,988, Armageddon at 515,554, and their debut release Savage, at 147,195.
The mini-album also debuted at No. 2 on the Worldwide iTunes Album Chart. They will now continue album promotions and the world tour in the coming days.
