EXO and its new album EXOdus have taken advantage of the growing market for K-Pop in the United States, as the release became the highest-selling American debut in the genre's history. The band came in at no. 95 after selling 6,000 copies in its first week (note: The Billboard article sourced for this news lists EXOdus as coming in at no. 126 before being updated to no. 90. As of publication, the album was placed at no. 95).
The band beat the record that was set a little more than a year ago when 2NE1 debuted its album Crush at no. 61 with 5,000 copies sold. That album still holds the record for the highest charting K-Pop album however. EXO beat former record holders Big Bang and Alive for both the highest charting and highest selling debut by a male group in the genre's American history last year, when it dropped the Overdose EP, which debuted at no. 129 on the Billboard 200.
The sales numbers for EXOdus are such that the group landed on top of the World Albums chart, marking the second time the band has managed to top that chart in the United States. It joins Girls Generation and G-Dragon (a member of Big Bang) as the only performers to top that chart twice, however EXO still trails boy band B.A.P., which has topped the World Music chart three times now.
The release and success of the album is meaningful for the group apart from a strict sales perspective however. After the launch of the band with XOXO during 2013, the group had some legal struggles during 2014, as members Luhan and Kris sued S.M. Entertainment to nullify their contracts. That left the group with "only" ten members instead of the original dozen.
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