Could This Finally Be the Week for ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ on the Billboard 200 — Or Will It Get Out-‘Swag’ged by Justin Bieber? 

The Contenders is simply a midweek file that looks astatine artists aiming for the apical of the Billboard charts, and the strategies down their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Sept. 21, we look astatine the chances for KPop Demon Hunters to yet instrumentality its triumph thigh connected the albums chart, if it tin clasp disconnected a popular superstar’s astonishment caller release-slash-re-release.  

KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack (Visva/Republic): It’s singular some that we’re inactive talking astir KPop Demon Hunters arsenic a chart-topping contender astir 3 months aft its archetypal Netflix merchandise — and besides somewhat singular that aft owning popular civilization for adjacent to the full summer, the soundtrack inactive hasn’t reached the Billboard 200’s apical spot. For astir of that time, of course, it was stuck down Morgan Wallen’s 13-week No. 1 I’m the Problem, but it yet snuck past that behemoth connected past week’s illustration — lone to past get lapped by a brace of 300k-plus-bowing albums successful consecutive weeks: Stray Kids’ Karma and Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend.  

Will adjacent week’s illustration finally people HUNTR/X and Co.’s takedown of the Billboard 200? Well, the timing surely would enactment up, arsenic the acceptable is getting a wide other propulsion for this week. For 1 thing, it’s yet getting its wide retail merchandise connected CD, with exclusive variants disposable astatine Target, Walmart and Barnes & Noble, each with a poster and a randomized photograph card. A deluxe mentation of the medium was besides released digitally and to DSPs, featuring 2 further tracks from the movie (“Prologue (Hunter’s Mantra)” and “Jinu’s Lament”) arsenic good arsenic caller singalong, instrumental and a cappella versions of the album’s 7 large archetypal hits.  

Meanwhile, the real-life artists who supply the singing voices of the HUNTR/X trio person besides been connected the promotional trail. EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami made a unrecorded in-store quality astatine a Barnes and Noble successful Manhattan connected Saturday to motion CDs and instrumentality immoderate photos. The trio besides made its tv debut connected Sunday erstwhile they appeared astatine the MTV Video Music Awards astatine UBS Arena successful Long Island, presenting champion medium to Sabrina Carpenter (though for 2024’s Short n’ Sweet, not the medium that held them astatine No. 2 connected the Billboard 200 this week).  

Could it adhd up to the medium astatine agelong past reaching No. 1 successful its 12th week connected the chart? It should station its strongest wide numbers yet, astatine the precise least, arsenic the songs are each inactive doing precise good connected streaming  — though they’re possibly yet starting to gaffe a small successful the regular rankings, truthful the KPDH cast would beryllium well-served to truly prehend this week arsenic their moment.  

Justin Bieber, Swag (ILH/Def Jam): While the lane has yet opened ...