By Ashley Cruz

Map of the Soul: Persona concept photo BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT

It was a different kind of win for BTS and the ARMY as “Map of the Soul: Persona” peaked at No. 1 on worldwide iTunes chart, re-entering the Top 200 since its release seven months ago.

The album also holds the No. 2 spot on the US iTunes Top 200 and the lead in 47 countries, including the Philippines, as of 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Manila.

Aside from “Map of the Soul: Persona,” BTS’s entire discography re-entered the U.S iTunes chart including their Japanese albums and mixtapes. “Agust D” by Suga (Min Yoongi) and “Hope World” by j-hope (Jung Hoseok) both re-entered the Top 40 at No. 36 and No. 25 respectively while “mono” by RM (Kim Namjoon) re-entered the Top 10 at No. 5.

.@BTS_twt‘s entire Korean albums discography has re-entered the US iTunes chart.

— chart data (@chartdata) November 12, 2019

US iTunes: 2 Persona 5 mono 25 Hope World 36 Agust D 42 D&W 55 LY Answer 68 LY Tear 70 LY Her 82 Wings 94 Young Forever 98 O!RUL8,2! 110 YNWA 194 2C4S 239 HYYH pt1 257 HYYH pt2 340 SLA Special 367 SLA @BTS_twt #BTS #방탄소년단 pic.twitter.com/RvoeQlhEKO — bora •‿• (@modooborahae) November 12, 2019

The massive leaps on iTunes prompted the hashtag #BuyPersonaOniTunes to top Twitter worldwide trends for over 10 hours as the BTS ARMY proactively bullied the charts.

The movement was a response to BTS’s 2019 People’s Choice Awards snub where they were nominated for three awards — Best Group, Best Concert Tour for “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself World Tour” and Best Music Video for “Boy With Luv.”

The snub was more than just a disappointment for the fans given the record-breaking achievements of BTS this year who won “Top Duo/Group” at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and “Top Social Artist” for three consecutive years, which was fan-driven like the PCAs.

Their music video for “Boy With Luv” also holds the Guinness World Record for most viewed video in 24 hours and their “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour was a phenomenal success after selling out stadiums around the world, including the iconic Wembley Stadium in London and the historic King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.

Year to Date – Artists from the 2010s:
1. @edsheeran $210.0 million
2. @BTS_twt $145.1 million
3. @ArianaGrande $101.8 million
4. @ShawnMendes $78.6 million
5. @PostMalone $68.8 million#YearToDate

— Touring Data (@touringdata) November 9, 2019

Despite the upset, BTS’s ever-loyal fandom, ARMYs channeled the negative energy into something progressive and made the boys much more successful in the music charts by buying and streaming their entire discography in every way possible.

WHAT A DAY TO REMEMBER ???????????? #BuyPERSONAOniTunes pic.twitter.com/hOZVsh6Dg3 — BTS Throwbacks (@ThrowbacksBTS) November 12, 2019

????I feel blessed????
The way stan twitter exploded with anger for only few minutes after those awards were announced & then took a deep collective breath & refocused on a singular goal was mesmerizing to watch & surreal to be a part of #ARMYsChooseBTS#BuyPersonaOniTunes@BTS_twt

— Nikki Knack¹⁴ (@Nikkityknack76) November 12, 2019

Today has been legendary. Way to create our own narrative ARMYs! (It’s not too late if you’re in the USA to buy Persona on iTunes.) @BTS_twt #BuyPERSONAOniTunes — Rafranz ????????‍???? (@RafranzDavis) November 12, 2019

I love this community ARMY for the passion and commitment without fighting. True winners.
????????????????????????????#BuyPersonaOniTunes@BTS_twt

— Jayelle_Kdiamond???? (@JL_Kdiamond) November 11, 2019