ITZY’s new mini-album ‘Checkmate’ debuts at Number Eight on Billboard 200

K-pop girl group ITZY’s latest release ‘Checkmate’ has debuted at Number Eight on the Billboard 200, marking their highest entry on the chart yet.

On July 24, Billboard shared that ITZY’s new mini-album ‘Checkmate’ had debuted at Number Eight on the album chart in the week ending July 21. It is the quintet’s highest-charting effort yet, after their debut studio album ‘Crazy In Love’, which charted at Number 11 following its release last September.

According to Billboard, the girl group had earned 33,000 equivalent album units, of which 31,000 were attributed to album sales and 3,000 to SEA (streaming equivalent) units. The remaining units comprised TEA (track equivalent) units.

ITZY are now the fourth K-pop girl group to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, joining the ranks of BLACKPINK’s 2020 studio debut ‘THE ALBUM’, labelmates TWICE’s ‘Formula Of Love: T+O=<3’ last November and aespa’s ‘Girls’ just last week.

‘Checkmate’ was first released on July 15 alongside a music video for its title track ‘Sneakers’. The mini-album comprises a total of 7 new songs, as well as an English-language version of its title track.

‘Sneakers’ is about “put[ting] your own sneakers on and jump[ing] out of [others’] expectations to freedom,” member Ryujin told NME during a recent interview with the quintet. “This time, we wanted to [include] freedom in it so listeners can enjoy this music more brightly, and more, like, summer!”

ITZY will support the mini-album by embarking on their first-ever world tour, also titled ‘Checkmate’, later this year. The tour will kick off with a two-night residency in Seoul this August, after which the girl group will head to North America in October and November.