Seungkwan and co continue their trail to success with their newest mini album 'FML' by clocking the biggest pre-orders and highest-selling K-pop album in its first day.
- May 15, 2023
AceShowbiz - Seventeen are making history. The South Korean boyband consisting of thirteen members such as Jun, Hoshi, and Seungkwan keep pushing themselves up the ladder of success. After their four previous records broke into Billboard Hot 200 with the highest rank being "Face the Sun" repackage at No. 4, the group are now climbing even higher with their latest album.
Led by double singles "F*ck My Life" and "Super", "FML" is an extended play featuring 6 tracks. The mini album was so highly anticipated that it broke record for the highest pre-orders ever in K-pop's history with a mammoth 4.64 million, surpassing Bangtan Boys' "Map of the Soul: 7" in 2020.
Once the album dropped, fans were racing to get a first listen to the group's newest offering. It ended up selling more than 3.99 million copies worldwide on its first day, setting a new record for the biggest-selling K-pop album. "It's all very surreal. It makes me think a lot about what we need to do to return this enormous amount of love," band's member Mingyu said.
In the US alone, "FML" raked in 135,000 album-equivalent units and the number was more than enough to send the band to a new high on the country's all-genre album chart by bowing at the second place. The achievement also boosted them up to the top spot on Billboard Artist 100, which ranks the week's most popular artists across all genres.
Another member Joshua explained the message they were trying to convey through the EP, "There's 'F*ck My Life,' which is what the acronym usually means, and we also offer 'Fight for My Life,' which is what we want the acronym to mean. There are multiple other ways to turn the expression 'FML' around to mean something else other than 'F*ck My Life'."
Bandmate Woozi added, "From a macroscopic view, we often only see the good parts, the picturesque parts of everyone's lives, but there are so many battles that are not visible to the naked eye. Everyone goes through rough times, fiercely fighting to live their lives. We wanted FML to be a reflection of these different layers."
