In the middle of this month, Jin made a comeback with his 2nd solo mini album ‘ECHO’ after half a year since the release of his first solo album ‘HAPPY’. This time, the musical color that Jin brings is more introspective and mature, reflecting the depth of emotions and the male idol’s artistic development.
7 songs are 7 separate emotions with unique music and meaningful lyrics performed through a familiar sweet, warm voice that immerses fans. In particular, the most prominent is the title track “Don’t Say You Love Me”, which received high praise for both its audio and visual aspects.
Released on May 16, 2025, Don’t Say You Love Me quickly created a wave of global attention with its elegant pop melody and the participation of actress Shin Se Kyung in a romantic yet dramatic K-drama scenario.
On May 29, the song was reported to have risen to No. 1 on Spotify’s Global Top 50 chart - marking the first time a solo product of Jin has dominated the world’s largest online music platform.
The song debuted at No. 9 and in less than a week, it made a spectacular breakthrough to claim the top spot, attracting more than 5.6 million streams per day. This is not only an impressive achievement for Jin personally, but also a historic milestone for Kpop in particular and Asian artists in general.
With this victory, Jin officially entered the ranks of Kpop legends, the rare Kpop artist group to have achieved No.1 Spotify Global, along with his two brothers in BTS, Jungkook (Seven, 3D, Standing Next to You) and Jimin (Like Crazy).
This achievement also makes BTS the group with the most members achieving No.1 Spotify Global - surpαѕѕing the previous record of One Direction with two members who have done the same.
Notably, Don't Say You Love Me is currently the only song by an Asian artist to reach No.1 on Spotify Global in 2025, and also helps Jin become the fourth Kpop solo artist in history to achieve the highest position on this chart.
Not only occupying the top position on Spotify, the title track of Jin's 2nd album also entered the latest Hot 100 chart at No. 90. With this achievement, Jin has had his third song to reach entered the Hot 100, after 'The Astronaut' (No. 51) and 'Running Wild' (No. 53).
The song also performed well on global song charts. "Don't Say You Love Me" topped the Digital Song Sales chart, while ranking fifth on the Global (Excluding the United States) chart and seventh on the Global 200 chart. In particular, on 'World Digital Song Sales', Jin's songs ranked from No. 1 to No. 6, attracting attention.
The album has also shown remarkable chart performance. "Echo" ranked No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the main Billboard album chart, marking Jin’s highest position to date.
It topped the World Albums chart and ranked No. 2 on Top Album Sales. This is the first time one of his solo works has reached No. 1 on the World Albums chart.
The success of the title track as well as the album has contributed to strengthening Jin and BTS's global position in the music industry. Jin's continued personal mark on his solo journey has also contributed to making BTS's name bustling before the reunion.
As the remaining members of the group are expected to complete their military service in June 2025, fans expect the "21st century pop icon" to continue to open a new legendary chapter.
