After sitting in the runner-up slot on the Billboard 200 chart for its first two weeks, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’sHoodie SZNclimbs to No. 1, scoring the rapper his first chart-topper.
The set, released via Highbridge the Label/Atlantic Records, earned 58,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 10, according to Nielsen Music (down less than 1 percent compared to the previous week). Nearly all of that sum was driven by streaming activity for the album.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based onmulti-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The newJan. 19, 2019-dated chart (whereHoodieclimbs to No. 1) will be posted in full onBillboard‘s websites onTuesday, Jan. 15.
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Hoodie SZNis the first album to spend its first week at No. 1 by climbing up the chart — rather than debuting at No. 1 — since The Greatest Showman soundtrack rose 5-1 in its third week on the list (dated Jan. 13, 2018).
Hoodie SZNis A Boogie’s second full-length studio album and second top 10 effort. He previously visited the region with his first full-length set,The Bigger Artist, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Oct. 21, 2017-dated tally.
The 20-songHoodie SZNhas been largely powered by streaming activity since its debut on the chart. In its premiere week, it sold just 6,000 copies, while in its second and third weeks, sold a mere 1,000 in each frame. On the new Billboard 200, ofHoodie SZN’s 58,000 total units, 56,000 come from SEA units (equaling 83 million on-demand audio streams for the album’s 20 songs), 1,000 from TEA units and 1,000 from album sales.
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That 1,000-album sales figure is the smallest weekly sum for a No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart since it flipped from an album sales-only list to a multi-metric consumption-ranking in December 2014. The previous consumption-era low was registered just a week ago, when 21 Savage’s streaming-powered I Am > I Was sold 3,000 copies (of its total 65,000 units). (Back when the Billboard 200 was an album sales-only tally, the smallest sum at No. 1 was on the Feb. 12, 2001-dated tally, when Amos Lee’s Mission Bell sold 40,000 copies.)
The top selling album this week is Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack, with 21,000 sold, and is No. 1 on the sales-only Top Album Sales chart. Hoodie SZN did not sell enough to rank on that 100-position list.
Slim album sales for hip-hop titles have become commonplace in the past year or two, as streaming increasingly becomes the preferred means of consumption for hip-hop fans. A week ago, the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, 21 Savage’sI Am > I Was, sold just 3,000 copies (though earned a total of 65,000 units, thanks to large streaming figures).
In 2018, R&B/hip-hop album sales fell 20.8 percent from 2017. Comparatively, overall album sales, across all genres, fell 17.7 percent. Further, just isolating physical album sales, R&B/hip-hop tumbled 27.8 percent, while overall physical album sales fell 15.8 percent.
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After two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, 21 Savage’sI Am > I Wasslips to No. 2 with 56,000 units (down 14 percent).
At No. 3, the soundtrack toSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versehits a new peak, as it climbs two slots (49,000 units; up 6 percent). The hip-hop-heavy set includes the hit single “Sunflower,” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, among other contributions from A-listers.
Six former No. 1s occupy the Nos. 4-9 slots on the Billboard 200, as Meek Mill’sChampionshipsmoves 3-4 (46,000 units; down 4 percent), Post Malone’sbeerbongs & bentleysdips 4-5 (43,000 units; down 10 percent), Travis Scott’sAstroworldclimbs 7-6 (just over 41,000 units; down 5 percent), Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’sA Star Is Bornsoundtrack rises 10-7 (41,000 units; up 2 percent), Drake’sScorpiondescends 6-8 (nearly 41,000 units; down 7 percent) and Kodak Black’sDying To Liveholds at No. 9 (39,000 units; down 5 percent).
A Star Is Born posts a gain likely due to sale pricing in the iTunes Store and exposure earned by the film at the Jan. 6 Golden Globe Awards, where it won best original song for “Shallow,” and was nominated for four other trophies, including best motion picture, drama.
Closing out the new top 10 is Queen’sGreatest Hits I II & III: The Platinum Collection, which vaults from No. 137 to No. 10 with 38,000 units (up 453 percent). It’s an unusual climb, which requires a bit of explaining. For chart purposes, SEA and TEA activity for an artist’s song, when it is on the tracklist of multiple albums by that artist, goes to whichever album is selling the most in a given week.
So in the week ending Jan. 10, asThe Platinum Collectionsold more than Queen’sBohemian Rhapsodysoundtrack album (8,000 vs. 7,000 copies), theformergets the SEA and TEA activity for songs that appear on both titles — like “Bohemian,” “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” Meanwhile, theBohemian Rhapsodysoundtrack falls 15-76 (10,000 units; down 62 percent). Next week, ifBohemian Rhapsodyends up selling more thanPlatinum, then the SEA and TEA for the songs shared across both albums reverts back toBohemian Rhapsody.
