The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 dated Sept. 7, we look at the still-rising KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack possibly getting lapped by a BB200 superpower.  

Stray Kids, Karma (JYP/Republic): Despite being fairly prolific over the past two years — especially on the Billboard charts — K-pop superstars Stray Kids hadn’t actually released an official Korean-language studio album since 2023, having instead been on a run of EPs with one Japanese-language album (2024’s Giant) and one mixtape (2024’s Hop) thrown in. The latest set Karma, released last Friday (Aug. 22), is actually just the octet’s fourth such album total, with 2023’s 5-Star being the only one of the first three to reach the Billboard 200.  

That set topped the Billboard 200, and so have the other five Stray Kids projects to reach the chart: 2022’s Stray Kids Mini Album: Oddinary (EP) and Maxident, 2023’s ROCK-STAR and 2024’s ATE (EP) and Hop. It stands to reason, then, that a long-awaited official album like Karma would also have a pretty good shot at reaching the chart’s top as well — and the set’s sales will be boosted by 14 available physical variants: 11 CD variants (all inclusive of randomized collectible paper ephemera) and 3 vinyl variants.  

KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack (Visva/Republic): If you were wondering whether this was going to be the week that the KPop Demon Hunters rocketship finally started to slow, you probably got your answer when the Netflix movie topped the weekend box office after finally arriving in theaters nationwide for the first time (after a one-week release in just three theaters in June). Fans new and old couldn’t resist coming out to the local multiplex to sing along to now-minted Demon Hunters smashes like “Golden,” “Your Idol,” “Soda Pop” and “How It’s Done,” which collectively make history on the Billboard Hot 100 this week by making the soundtrack the first to claim four simultaneous top 10 Hot 100 hits.  

The songs have gotten a solid streaming boost from the movie’s theatrical run — possibly enough to finally push the soundtrack past Morgan Wallen’s 12-week No. 1 I’m the Problem, which has held it at No. 2 for five non-consecutive weeks at this point. But securing the Billboard 200 No. 1 might have to wait at least one more week for the summer’s most unexpected blockbuster: With CDs not slated for a wide release until Sept. 5, it likely cannot compete with the sparkling sales numbers put up by Stray Kids — whose 5-Star album posted 235,000 in pure album sales in its debut week two years ago, a number likely to be bested by Karma next week.  

IN THE MIX 

Laufey, A Matter of Time (AWAL): Two years after 2023’s Bewitched and its (somehow still viral) breakout hit “From the Start” made traditional pop vocalist Laufey an unlikely Gen Z darling, she returns with the new set A Matter of Time. The album has gotten off to a strong start on streaming, with new single “Lover Girl” still ranking in the top half of Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA 200, and will undoubtedly be boosted by a wide variety of available variants — including eight vinyl and three CD options (each with one signed edition) and even a cassette. 

Deftones, Private Music (Reprise/Warner): Another act you can expect to sell well this week is veteran alt-metalers the Deftones, who have reached the Billboard 200’s top 10 with six of their last seven albums (2012’s No. 11-peaking Koi No Yokan the lone holdout) over a now-25-year span. It should be seven of eight following last Friday’s release of Private Music, another strong streaming performer with a ton of purchase options: seven vinyl variants, three CDs, a cassette and a box set with a branded piece of a clothing and a vinyl LP inside. 

Tyler, the Creator, Cherry Bomb (Odd Future): Third official album Cherry Bomb holds a curious place in Tyler, the Creator’s catalog, marking perhaps the most lukewarmly received and least-remembered project in his otherwise unanimously acclaimed discography. But the set’s 10th anniversary (celebrated in April) is as good a time as any to revisit and re-evaluate the set — and as of Friday, fans have the ability to do so via three new vinyl variants and three new deluxe boxed sets containing branded merch and a CD, all likely to send the set hurtling back towards the Billboard 200’s top 10 this week (perhaps just short of its original No. 4 peak).