Two Weeks, No SM: Lee Soo-man’s A2O LITE Just Outranked BTS on Billboard With “NEON”

A2O LITE arriving at MBC Radio, October 21, 2026

Two weeks after debut, A2O LITE’s NEON is No. 3 on Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and No. 8 on the Global 200, above BTS’s Swim. Lee Soo-man built the highest K-pop song of the week without SM.

Ousted From SM, Lee Soo-man Just Beat the NCT He Built: A2O LITE Tops NCT WISH on Inkigayo

Lee Soo-man speaking at the CISAC World Congress in Seoul, 2024

On October 25, Lee Soo-man’s A2O LITE beat SM’s NCT WISH for No. 1 on SBS Inkigayo, 6,060 to 5,587. NCT was his own blueprint. NCT WISH sold 1.26 million albums, but NEON won the charts.