Despite the slowdown in activities for Kpop music acts with the Novel Coronavirus global pandemic affecting various parts of the world, NCT 127 is letting their music speak to the fans and charted at Number 5 in the Billboard 200 for their new album Neo Zone.
Billboard recently announced that NCT 127's second studio album Neo Zone debuted at No. 5 of its Top 200 Albums chart, the highest ranking that the group has posted on the US chart, Soompi reported.
This is the first time NCT 127 has entered the Top 10 of Billboard 200 but this is the group's third time to enter the chart overall. Their first time was for their 2018 album Regular-Irregular and last year's mini-album We Are Superhuman which narrowly missed the Top 10 by landing on the 11th spot.
Stats from Nielsen Music indicated that NCT 127's Neo Zone earned a total of 87,000 equivalent album sales in the week ending in March 12. 83,000 of the number was credited to traditional album sales.
It comes as no surprise that NCT 127's new album is well received in the US as a group continues to make headway with the American fanbase. It can be recalled that last year, they were the first Kpop idol group to be invited to participate and perform in the annual Macy's Day parade.
With the release of Neo Zone, NCT 127 also received accolades from music pundits for its left of the center brand of Kpop.In a review by Forbes, Jeff Benjamin lauded NCT 127's new single Kick It which he forecast would set the trend for thrilling Kpop offerings in the future.
"A metal guitar-laced riff and hip-hop chant open the track to give what, at first, sounds like the band's most hardcore cut to date before it tempers out with a shimmering piano line and fluttery vocals. While the noise-pop elements of Kick It are undoubtedly the most impactful, both this and the flickers of R&B set the stage for the Neo Zone album at large," he described the track.
The Forbes review also gave glowing commendation to the different flavors offered by Neo Zone's other tracks including Boom, Pandora's Box, Day Dream, Sit Down and Mad Dog.
The review further said that NCT 127's Neo Zone was a strong follow up to the gains of last year's We are Superhuman album which could solidify their foothold on American Kpop fans.
