Travis Scott’s latest album Utopia has received mixed reviews from rap fans. But it’s also drawn comparisons to Kanye West’s critically acclaimed 2013 album, Yeezus. Now Billboard has announced that Scott’s album has snagged the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, beating out Post Malone’s Austin.
Utopia‘s chart placement marks Scott’s third time as a solo act reaching that milestone, following 2018 Astroworld and 2016’s Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight. In 2019, his Catcus Jack collaborative album, JackBoys, reached No. 1 as well.
According to Luminate, as of August 3 Utopia has tracked the equivalent of 496,000 units earned in the United States. The total calculation is comprised of 243,000 streaming equivalent album units (equaling 330.68 million on-demand official streams of the streaming set’s 19 total songs), 252,000 album sales, and 1,000 track-equivalent album units. To put that into perspective, the recorded streaming metrics for Utopia alone made up nearly half (49%) of Utopia’s first-week numbers, as album sales primarily generate the remaining percentage.
Scott was sure to tap some of the industry’s biggest names to make a guest appearance on Utopia, including Beyoncé, Bad Bunny, Drake, The Weeknd, Sampha, and 21 Savage. However, considering the five-year hiatus since his last album, the anticipation alone could have played a significant part in the album’s charting success.
