For the first time since Drake’s Views debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200, a hip-hop album didn’t make the Top 3 of the chart for the week ending September 1. Barbra Streisand entered at no. 1, followed by new albums from country act Florida Georgia Line and pop icon Britney Spears.
The biggest story of the week, however, belonged to De La Soul and their first album in 12 years, and the Anonymous Nobody. The release debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard Rap Albums chart — which is based on pure album sales, not the Billboard 200’s multi-metric data calculation — despite moving less total equivalent album units than Drake’s ubiquitous Views and Young Thug’s debuting Jeffery.
The partially Kickstarter-funded and the Anonymous Nobody was no. 12 on the Billboard 200. Views fell two spots to no. 4 as last week’s no. 1 album, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, dropped to no. 5 with a 78 percent decrease in sales. Jeffery entered the chart at no. 8, earning Young Thug his second Top 10 release — Slime Season 3 debuted at no. 7 earlier this year.
Beyonce’s Lemonade experienced a 106 percent increase in sales following her medley performance of the album at the MTV Video Music Awards, good for no. 7. Rihanna’s ANTI experienced a similar boost in sales (18 percent) following the Vanguard Award winner’s four performances at the awards show, although the album slipped one spot to no. 9. Her song “Needed Me” also returned to the Top 10 of the Hot 100.
In Drake news, his former no. 1 “One Dance” dropped to no. 9 on the Hot 100, but still allowed the rapper to extend his run of Top 10 finishes on the chart to 51 consecutive weeks, second only to Katy Perry’s 69 weeks.
Here are the 10 best-selling hip-hop or R&B albums on the Billboard 200 for the week ending September 1, determined by total equivalent album units. Pure album sales are in parentheses, with total streams in brackets.
4. Drake – Views – 71,526 (18,406) [65,644,180]
5. Frank Ocean – Blonde – 67,387 (44,104) [34,924,987]
6. Suicide Squad: The Album – 62,908 (27,160) [28,466,230]
7. Beyonce — Lemonade — 37,750 (25,796) [1,982,772]
8. Young Thug — Jeffery — 37,342 (17,748) [26,736,554]
9. Rihanna – ANTI – 32,100 (6,537) [27,700,330]
12. De La Soul — and the Anonymous Nobody — 23,202 (21,332) [2,072,439]
13. DJ Khaled – Major Key – 23,159 (5,280) [20,116,665]
16. Tory Lanez – I Told You – 20,696 (7,207) [16,902,576]
Travi$ Scott’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight is currently projected for no. 1 on the Billboard 200 next week. Isaiah Rashad’s The Sun’s Tirade is also set to debut.
(Via Billboard 200, Hot 100)
