BTS has a new plaque, or three, to hang up on their wall: The South Korean group was recently awarded a trio of new certifications for their music by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), including their first platinum single and first gold album.
Certified on Nov. 9, the RIAA recognized BTS‘ 2017 song “Mic Drop” as their first single to obtain platinum certification, accumulating 1 million certified units. The song was originally released on September 2017’s Love Yourself: Her and later remixed by Steve Aoki for a new version featuring Desiigner, which came out in December. According to the RIAA, one equivalent song unit is equal to a single digital song sale, or 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams.
The same day, the RIAA declared August’s Billboard 200 chart-topper Love Yourself: Answer as BTS’ first album to go gold, with half a million certified units recorded, while its single “Idol” was also recognized gold. One equivalent album unit is equal to one album sale, 10 tracks sold from an album, or 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from an album. It is the first-ever Korean album to be recognized by the RIAA.
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When Answer debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 on the chart dated Sept. 1, it topped with 185,000 equivalent album units. It was recently recognized as the best-selling album ever on South Korea’s Gaon Chart, launched in 2010, and one of the best-selling Korean albums of all time with over 2.03 million copies sold.
Answer’s single “Idol,” which debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 11 on the chart dated Sept. 8, became the septet’s fourth single to be certified gold, also with half a million units; the song was released simultaneously with a BTS-only version and one featuring Nicki Minaj.
The act’s singles “DNA,” Fake Love” and “Mic Drop” were certified gold earlier this year, and BTS are the most-decorated Korean act ever acknowledged by the RIAA.
BTS’ latest collaboration with Steve Aoki, “Waste It on Me,” recently peaked at No. 89 on the Hot 100 chart dated Nov. 10. The group is currently in the middle of the Japanese leg of their Love Yourself world tour.