Fans of My Tam, rejoice!
According to Tuoi Tre, Tam’s most recent record, ‘Tam 9’, appeared in Billboard’s Top World Albums list. At the time of writing, the album is still at the 10th position. This marks the first time a Vietnamese musical act has been listed on the popular charting website.
Unlike other Billboard lists like Billboard Hot 100 Chart or Billboard 200 – whose rankings are determined by a combination of metrics such as album sales, radio play, and online streaming – the Top World Albums list is driven only by sales, both in physical copies and digital downloads.
The rest of the top 15 is dominated by South Korean bands with boyband BTS claiming the 1st, 4th, and 6th. Other Korean artists such as Big Bang and EXO have also topped the chart in the past.
My Tam expressed her surprise at being included in the Billboard ranking.
“Last night [January 23] while celebrating the victory of the national U-23 team, I was informed about news of Tam 9’s 10th position on the chart,” she wrote on her Facebook account in Vietnamese. “The first time Vietnamese music is present on a global Billboard ranking! Unbelievable! We did it! Really! This is awesome!”
‘Tam 9’ was My Tam’s ninth studio album, released on December 3 last year. Some 10,000 physical copies of the record were sold within the first few weeks. Tam’s album also performed well online, reaching No. 1 on iTunes and No. 8 on Amazon.
This is not the first time in recent years a Vietnamese entertainer was recognized in international rankings. Just weeks ago, with the release of the latest Star Wars movie, Ngo Thanh Van – who scored a supporting role in the sci-fi flick – also made movie-ranking website IMDb’s STARmeter list at No. 41.
[Top photo via The Gioi Van Hoa]
