In 2004, Kanye West’s debut album, The College Dropout, peaked in the second spot on the Billboard 200 chart. His sophomore record, Late Registration, went No. 1, starting a chart-topping streak that has now landed him in the record books: For the week ending June 7, Ye is on the top of the charts, which gives Kanye his eighth consecutive No. 1 album (counting Watch The Throne, his collaborative effort with Jay-Z).
As Billboard notes, Ye earned 208,000 equivalent album units for the week, with 85,000 of those coming from traditional album sales. This is historically significant for Kanye in a variety of ways: His eight No. 1 albums in a row ties a record held by The Beatles (for albums released between 1965 to 1968) and Eminem (an active streak since 2000). Not all of the Beatles’ consecutive chart-toppers debuted at the top spot, so Kanye one-upped one of the most legendary bands ever in that regard.
Kanye’s eight No. 1 albums also ties Eminem for the second most chart-topping records in Billboard 200 history, both of whom are second to Jay-Z’s 14 (and all of whom are behind The Beatles’ 19 overall). Ye also had the seventh largest debut streaming week ever, with 180.1 million on-demand audio streams. Ye‘s 208,000 equivalent album units were also good for the fifth biggest week of 2018, behind only Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys (461,000 units), J. Cole’s KOD (397,000), Justin Timberlake’s Man Of The Woods (293,000), and Cardi B’s Invasion Of Privacy (255,000).
Read our review of Ye here.
