ILLIT’s Break Even is the best-selling album in the U.S. this week and the group’s first Billboard 200 top 10. BLACKPINK’s Lisa and a pack of K-pop acts charted too.
ILLIT just had its biggest week in America.
The group’s new mini album, “BREAK EVEN,” debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, Billboard reported on Nov. 8. It also opened at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, which means it sold more copies than any other album in the U.S. that week.
Both are firsts for ILLIT. It’s the group’s first top 10 on the Billboard 200 and its first No. 1 on Top Album Sales, per Billboard and Soompi.
How many copies did ILLIT’s Break Even sell?
“BREAK EVEN” earned 37,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Billboard.
Most of that was physical sales. Here’s the breakdown Billboard gave:
32,500 in album sales
4,500 in streaming units, from 4.87 million on-demand streams
A negligible amount from track sales
Billboard said the sales got a big push from the album coming in more than 24 CD versions. Yep, two dozen. Collectors gonna collect, and the fans clearly showed up for this one.
What was ILLIT’s highest Billboard 200 spot before this?
No. 26. That was “MAMIHLAPINATAPAI” back in May 2026, per Billboard and Soompi.
“BREAK EVEN” is the group’s fifth album on the Billboard 200. Soompi lists the earlier peaks:
“SUPER REAL ME” at No. 93
“I’LL LIKE YOU” at No. 94
“bomb” at No. 171
“MAMIHLAPINATAPAI” at No. 26
So the group went from the bottom half of the chart to the top 10 in about two years. That’s a real climb.
The album also landed at No. 7 on Billboard’s World Albums chart, Soompi reports.
Did BLACKPINK’s Lisa chart on the Billboard 200 too?
She did. Lisa’s solo EP “PRESS PLAY” debuted at No. 35 on the Billboard 200, Soompi reported on Nov. 8. It’s her second solo album on the chart.
Her first, “Alter Ego,” peaked at No. 7 in 2025.
Soompi says “PRESS PLAY” also opened at No. 6 on Top Album Sales and No. 15 on Vinyl Albums. Her song “Tarantino” reached No. 79 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart and No. 98 on the Billboard Global 200, and she’s No. 34 on the Artist 100.
Which K-pop albums are on Billboard’s World Albums chart?
The World Albums chart was loaded with K-pop again this week. Here’s the top of it, per Soompi:
No. 1: CORTIS, “GREENGREEN,” its sixth week on top
No. 2: Stray Kids, “THIS & THAT”
No. 3: NMIXX, “Strange Muse,” a new entry
No. 4: Jeonghan x Joshua, “DREAMSCAPE,” a new entry
No. 5: ENHYPEN, “THE SIN : BLISS”
No. 6: K/DA, “FIRESTARTER,” a new entry
No. 7: ILLIT, “BREAK EVEN”
ATEEZ, NewJeans, BOYNEXTDOOR, LE SSERAFIM and BTS also made the chart, Soompi says. BTS’ “Map of the Soul: 7 ~The Journey~” sits at No. 12, which, y’know, is a pretty long run for a 2020 album.
Who topped the Billboard 200 this week?
Olivia Rodrigo did. Her album “you seem pretty sad” returned to No. 1, per Billboard’s chart story.
That’s the company ILLIT is keeping now. A few years ago, a K-pop girl group in the Billboard 200 top 10 was rare. Now there’s a short list of them, and ILLIT just joined it.
Who is ILLIT?
ILLIT is a five-member girl group under HYBE’s BELIFT LAB label. The members are Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha.
The group debuted in March 2024 with “SUPER REAL ME,” and its single “Magnetic” became a breakout hit. ILLIT also teamed with LE SSERAFIM and KATSEYE on “ICONIC BY MISTAKE,” and that music video passed 200 million views this week, per Soompi.
Back home, the album broke ILLIT’s own first-week sales record in Korea, Soompi reported on Nov. 8. And on Nov. 7, “Tick-Tack” became the group’s fifth music video to pass 100 million views on YouTube, per Soompi. For a group whose albums used to land in the 90s on Billboard, that’s quite a weekend.
If “BREAK EVEN” holds up next week, we’ll know whether this was a big first week or a new normal.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Billboard (Nov. 8, 2026), the Billboard 200 positions, units and the CD versions
Soompi (Nov. 8, 2026), ILLIT’s earlier peaks, Lisa’s chart numbers and the World Albums chart
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