May 19 was a hotter day as three renowned K-pop acts, Baekhyun, i-dle (formerly (G)I-DLE), and RIIZE released their comeback albums.
Fresh off their comebacks, these artists didn’t just meet expectations—they bulldozed right through them with jaw-dropping first-week sales numbers.
Baekhyun dropped the 5th mini-album, Essence of Reverie, while RIIZE made a comeback with their debut studio album, ODYSSEY. On the other hand, i-dle made their first comeback with a mini-album, We Are, after rebranding.
Let’s break down how these K-Pop power players turned May into their own personal victory lap.
EXO Baekhyun’s “Essence of Reverie”
The EXO’s main vocalist is rewriting the rulebook for solo success with his consecutive successful releases. Essence of Reverie became 2025’s fastest-selling solo release (and his fourth consecutive million-seller).
Baekhyun surpassed the sales of high-profile solo albums this year by BTS’ Jin, G-Dragon, and Jennie from BLACKPINK. Essence of Reverie sold 784,921 copies on day 1 and became a million-seller in just three days. In the first week, Baekhyun sold 1,066,905 copies of his newly released fifth mini-album. His previous release, Hello, World, recorded 1,096,995 copies in its debut week.
The “Elevator” singer will embark on a world tour, Reverie, next with two shows at Seoul’s KSPO Dome.
i-dle’s “We Are”
i-dle celebrated their 7th debut anniversary with a bombshell rebranding announcement and a special album drop. On May 2, the group dropped a special album with a re-recorded version of their popular tracks. They made their comeback with the 8th mini-album, We Are, following the bold rebrand on May 19.
We Are sold 453,407 copies on the first day and achieved the coveted million-seller status in 6 days, and the first week sales stand at 1,063,526. It is their 3rd-highest first-week sales after “2” (1,537,083) and “I feel” (1,163,395).
RIIZE’s “ODYSSEY”
RIIZE is now a six-member boy group following Seunghan’s departure from the group last year after a prolonged hiatus. RIIZE has seemingly recovered from the controversy surrounding Seunghan’s departure, and things seem to be back on track for the group.
Their first full album, ODYSSEY, became the highest-selling album by a K-pop act this year so far. ODYSSEY had a strong start with 805,985 copies sold on its first day, and with an additional 584,200 copies sold on day four, the album successfully reached million-seller status.
RIIZE recorded their highest first-week sales with ODYSSEY, selling a total of 1,797,267 copies. The number is considerably higher than their previous releases RIIZING (1,255,015), Get A Guitar (1,016,849), and Riizing : Epilogue (273,641).
RIIZE will embark on the world tour, RIIZING LOUD, in early July with a three-night stint in Seoul.
