Blackpink Tie One Of Psy’s Most Impressive Hot 100 Records With Their Latest Smash

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 22: Girl group BLACKPINK attend the 6th Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards on … [+] February 22, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)

2017 Han Myung-Gu

Thanks to very healthy sales, millions of streams on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube and more love from radio programmers than they’ve received before in their career, Blackpink’s new single “Ice Cream” doesn’t just reach the Hot 100 this week, it grants the quartet their highest placement yet on the tally.

Thanks to their lofty debut on the chart, the band makes history by tying another superstar from South Korea in a special manner.

“Ice Cream,” which features pop superstar Selena Gomez, launches at No. 13 on this week’s Hot 100, earning the loftiest start of the frame among all new cuts. The tune, which serves as the second single from the four-member vocal outfit’s forthcoming debut full-length The Album, is Blackpink’s third top 40 in the U.S.

With a third appearance inside the top 40 on the Hot 100, Blackpink tie fellow South Korean musical figure Psy for the second-most placements inside the important region on the most competitive singles tally in the U.S. among artists from their home country.

Impressively, Blackpink has collected all three of their top 40 hits this year. They earned their first placement inside the area which typically defines when a song becomes a real hit alongside Lady Gaga on her promotional cut “Sour Candy.” That tune rose to No. 33 this past spring, and just a few weeks after that success, they sent their own “How You Like That” to the same position, collecting their second top 40.

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Psy has also claimed a trio of top 40 wins on the Hot 100, though he hasn’t snagged one in years. His smashes “Gangnam Style,” “Gentleman” and “Hangover” with Snoop Dogg all managed to lift into the tier, peaking at Nos. 2, 5 and 26, respectively. 

The only musical act from South Korea that has collected more top 40 hits thus far on the Hot 100 is BTS, who currently claim half a dozen placements in the arena. So far, four singles from the septet—“Dynamite,” “On,” “Boy With Luv” with Halsey and “Fake Love”—have broken into the top 10, landing at Nos. 1, 4, 8 and 10, respectively. On top of those proper smashes, the boy band’s other singles “Idol” with Nicki Minaj and “Mic Drop” with Desiigner stepped up to Nos. 11 and 28, respectively.

While Psy may not have any more top 40 hits left in his future (at least it doesn’t appear that way), Blackpink is bound to return to the region at some point, perhaps very soon. The quartet’s album is expected in less than a month, and it could easily produce another song successful enough to rise into the top 40, at which point they will break out of their tie with Psy and stand alone as the South Korean act with the second-most appearances in the tier.

Even if The Album doesn’t manage to spin off another top 40 hit on the Hot 100, Blackpink will likely score another smash with their next collection, and it’s only a matter of time before they pass Psy and continue their forward surge.

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