How Did KATSEYE’s ‘WILD’ Manage Such a Record-Setting First Week for the Group?

It’s been a steady climb for the international girl group KATSEYE since its debut in 2024.

This week, that ascent culminates with the group’s first-ever No.

1 on the Billboard 200 — with a historic first-week total.

The five-track EP WILD bows atop the chart this week (dated Aug.

29) with 170,000 first-week units — not only marking the career-best performance for KATSEYE, whose 2025 EP Beautiful Chaos entered at No.

4 with 44,000 units, but also setting a new single-week high for an all-female group since the Billboard 200 switched to measuring albums in units in 2015.

Meanwhile, the set’s new single “Hootie Frutti” debuts at No.

31 on the Billboard Hot 100, joining previous releases “Pinky Up” and “Animal” as the set’s third top 40 hit on the chart.

How did KATSEYE manage such a massive debut? And are the group’s achievements being overshadowed by news about members going on hiatus? Billboard staffers and contributors discuss these questions and more below.

1.

KATSEYE’s WILD debuts atop the Billboard 200 with 170,000 first-week units — the best-ever single-week number for an all-female group.

On a scale from 1-10, how big a first-week performance is that for the group? Kyle Denis : A solid 7.5.

Such a robust first week is certainly a testament to their pull despite the lineup drama and the wide range of opinions on their music.

Lyndsey Havens : 9 — and I’m only docking it a point because WILD is an EP, though I’ve since convinced myself that maybe it’s actually more impressive to have such a big first week with only five songs.