Riot Games has another hit on its hands, this time with the League of Legends KDA song. The virtual pop group K/DA, released “POP/STARS” in early November to a massive audience. The song has now been named the no. 1 track on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales Chart.
The League of Legends characters Akali, Ahri, Evelynn, and Kai’sa make up the virtual band K/DA. Real-world artists Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE, and Jaira Burns performed the bilingual “POP/STARS” which released with an animated music video of the League of Legends champions in their new K/DA skins. The song also reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Pop Digital Song sales, and No. 30 in Digital Song Sales.
“POP/STARS” sees all three artists achieving their first appearances on the Digital Song Sales chart, and their first No. ones on the World Digital Song Sales chart. The track has been streamed over 15 million times on Spotify and has 57 million views on YouTube. “POP/STARS” was performed live by the real-world counterparts to K/DA at the League of Legends 2018 world championships.
League of Legends KDA is not the first time Riot Games has released music starring characters from its immensely popular game. Metal band Pentakill has released two albums, even as the band consists of fictional League of Legends champions. The majority of that band’s discography has been crafted by Riot Games’ composers and sound designers, although there have been cameos from the likes of Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe). Last year’s Grasp of the Undying, Pentakill’s second album, reached No. 1 on iTunes’ metal chart and cracked Billboard’s Top 40 chart. A “DJ” skin for the League of Legends‘ Sona also brought music from artists like The Crystal Method and Bassnectar with it.
Riot Games released “POP/STARS” alongside new legendary skins for the in-game characters. Each skin matches the design of the K/DA group in the song’s music video, and are available for 1350 Riot Points (which is roughly $10).
