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BTS' V once again proves his renown among Japanese fans, this time not as a member of the chart-topping BTS but as a solo artist. In a testament to his abilities, V, with his solo debut album Layover, has clinched the highest rank among K-pop soloists in Japan's Oricon Annual Rankings this year (counting from December 26, 2022, to December 18, 2023).
Layover emerged as the Best Selling Album by a Soloist on Oricon Japan in 2023, securing the #16 spot with a solid 247,826 copies sold—the highest ranking among K-pop soloists.
The feats, however, do not end here, as Layover also ranked at #19 on the Oricon Combined Album Ranking and at #5 on the West Music Album Ranking, thereby making V the highest-ranked K-pop solo artist across all three categories of the Oricon Ranking charts.
Seeing Japan's unwavering love for the BTS idol yet another time, fans have been reminded once more why Japan is endearingly dubbed Kim Taehyung's land or TaeTaeLand.
Fans congratulate BTS' V globally seeing his impressive achievement on Oricon Japan with Layover
Layover, which contains six tracks, explores a well-met fusion of sounds like pop, R&B, and gospel and also touches on V's love of jazz, among other genres.
Upon its release on September 8 this year, Layover made a massive splash among listeners both in South Korea and abroad. At home, the album bagged the Double Million Seller title in less than one week of its release, making the Slow Dancing singer the first and only soloist in Hanteo history to have done so in the last 23 years.
Unsurprisingly, the waves of his solo success have not stayed limited to the Korean markets. The 27-year-old singer grabbed titles upon titles in TaeTaeLand, what Japan is fondly known as among fans worldwide because of the dedicated fanbase BTS' V has there.
V took up the #12 position on the Digital Album Ranking, dominating the 2023 Oricon Annual Ranking list.
Layover has been on the Billboard Japan Download Album Chart for an extensive 18-week period and also swept the 7th Most Downloaded Album in the 2023 title. It also ranked at #18 and #20 on the Hot Album and Top Album charts. Also, Layover recently soared past 963 million streams on Spotify.
Take a look at fan reactions to BTS' V's impressive attainment with Layover being dubbed Best Selling Album by a Soloist on Oricon Japan 2023.
BTS' V enlisted in the military on December 11
V's victories with Layover also extend to the US, with it having topped the 2023 US Billboard Year-End Chart with only a six-week tracking period. Under extraordinary circumstances, by overcoming the unfavorable conditions of rankings being based on the cumulative records of one year and a lack of promotions in the United States, Layover managed to land at #44 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart.
In other news, BTS' V enlisted in the South Korean military alongside fellow BTS member RM on December 11, 2023. He is expected to finish his service in 2025, along with the other enlisted BTS members, before the Dynamite group's 12th debut anniversary.
