K-Pop group BTS released their seventh album Map of the Soul: 7 on Friday to the excitement of millions of fans across the world.

This album has become the best selling album of the year worldwide, and has surpassed the group’s previous record for best selling South Korean album ever, based on pre-orders alone. Before its Friday release, the album had racked up over four million pre-orders globally.

“Music truly transcends languages and nationalities and races,” BTS member, RM, said in an interview on the Today Show last week.

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The album includes some songs from their previous album, Map of the Soul: Persona, but most of the 20 songs are new, including a digital-only version of the song “On” that features Sia.

The music video for “On” was also released Friday.

On Friday, BTS beat out all the other albums released by other artists (like Grimes, Ozzy Osbourne and Best Coast) to get the number one spot on the iTunes top albums chart. Plus, they took over all of the top 20 spots on the iTunes singles chart. “On” without Sia’s feature sat at first place, and “On” with Sia’s feature sat at second place.

 

Although the group was not nominated for any Grammys this year, they performed “Old Town Road” alongside Lil Nas X at the award show. Reviews of the album describe a matured sound for the group, which hints at a chance for future nominations.

“In earlier releases such as “DNA” and “Euphoria,” the band have explored singularities such as darkness, love, hate and light; on 7, recurring themes speak to a duality in which they weave myriad emotions into one gorgeous tapestry.” wrote Roison O’Connor in a review of the album for the Independent.

“It’s an album about being in a band, about the relationships that form and get tested in the crucible of insane fame, all set to some of the most genre-invigorating music of their career. If you were hitting “refresh” in the blue glow of your phone all night, BTS has richly rewarded your patience.” wrote August Brown in a review for The Los Angeles Times.

Following this album release, BTS is set to begin a tour in April traveling through South Korea, the Untied States, Canada, Japan and Great Britain.

You can find tickets here, though many dates have already sold out.

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Article by Marie Fiero

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