5 records set by BTS' Kim Taehyung’s debut studio album ‘Layover’

BTS' Kim Taehyung released his debut studio album Layover on September 8, 2023, through BigHit Music. The album features pop, jazz, and R&B sounds. It was produced by Frankie Scoca, Freekind, Jinsu Park, Absent Chronicles, and Monro. The title track is Slow Dancing.

The tracklist is listed below:

Rainy Days
Blue
Love Me Again
Slow Dancing
For Us
Slow Dancing (piano version)

It should be noted that the music videos for Love Me Again and Rainy Days were dropped before the release of Layover's unveiling. Meanwhile, the Slow Dancing music video premiered on September 13, 2023.

5 milestones achieved by BTS' Kim Taehyung's debut studio album, Layover

1) BTS' Kim Taehyung's Layover recorded over the sales of one million copies on the release date

BTS' V Layover recorded over the sales of one million copies on the release date (Image via @bts_bighit/X)

According to the data released by the Hanteo chart, Layover accumulated sales of 1.67 million copies on its opening day. It recorded the highest first-day sales by any K-pop soloist in the history of domestic music chart platforms. It went on to top the component Download Albums chart and Digital Albums chart, respectively.

As the first week of Layover's release concluded, the album garnered sales of over 2,101,974 units. Kim Taehyung emerged as the first K-pop solo artist in history surpassing the 2 million sales on Hanteo within its opening week. Moreover, the album recorded the highest debut week sales.

2) BTS' Kim Taehyung's Layover debuted at the No.2 position on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums Chart

Layover debuted at the No.2 position on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums Chart (Image via @bts_bighit/X)

According to the chart issue dated September 13, 2023, Layover was placed at the number two position on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart. It sold over 238,057 and 6,773 physical and digital copies between September 4 and September 10, 2023.

3) Layover made its debut at the number two position on the Billboard 200

Layover made its debut at the number two position on the Billboard 200 (Image via @bts_bighit/X)

Layover secured the number two position on the Billboard 200, showcasing Kim Taehyug's purchasing power and impact in the United States. It sold over 100,000 album units within the first week of its release. It included 88,000 pure sales, 3,000 track-equivalent albums, and 9000 streaming-equivalent albums.

4) Layover was named as the tenth best-selling albums worldwide

Layover was named as the tenth best-selling albums worldwide (Image via @bts_bighit/X)

On March 28, 2024, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry released the Global Music Report for 2023. According to the data, Kim Taehyung's Layover was the tenth-best-selling album worldwide. At that time, it recorded sales of 2.2 million units.

5) Kim Taehyung's Layover was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ)

Kim Taehyung's Layover was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) (Image via @bts_bighit/X)

Kim Taehyung's solo debut album, Layover, was certified Platinum for exceeding the sales of 250,000 copies in Japan. It was certified by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). The record also topped the Oricon Daily Album Ranking chart and sold over 221,491 copies within the first day of its release.

In recent news, BTS' V donated 200 million Korean won (US$ 174,832) to the Korean Red Cross to aid the recovery efforts from the wildfires, which took place in different regions of South Korea, including Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam. He also released two singles, including Winter Ahead (feat. Park Hyo-shin) and White Christmas, on November 27 and December 6, 2024.

He began his mandatory military service on December 11, 2023, with fellow BTS member Kim Namjoon. After five weeks of basic training, he received another five weeks of advanced training at the Army General Administration School. On February 8, 2024, he was assigned to the Ssangyong Unit of the 2nd Corps as part of the Military Police Special Task Force.

Kim Taehyung is expected to be discharged from duty in June 2025.

About the author

Kirti holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and has been a Kpop writer at SK POP since 2022. She has been following Kpop and Kdramas since the last 6 years and but has worked in the genre only in the last 3-4 years donning several several caps - social media intern, copywriter, article writer and academic writer.

Kirti likes to pen down insightful features based on Korean dramas, especially the 'Ending Explained' categories. It gives her the satisfaction of creating the most authentic content rather than simply replicating what media outlets generally do.

Her process of creating content is time-consuming, yet methodical; she prefers to use original sources of information, which in her case are Korean outlets. She watches entire episodes, writes them down, cross-checks/fact-checks the details/event timelines off the web and eventually creates her copy.

Kirti likes Lee Je-hoon, IU, and Kim Seon-ho since she feels that their dramas are inspiring and have good plotlines. When she is not writing about K-dramas, she can be found watching them.

Know More

Edited by Divya Singh