Charts Don’t Lie: December 7
The Weeknd’s Starboy absolutely crushed its debut, selling 200k physical copies and clockings 347k TAEU (total album equivalent units) when factoring in the massive amount of streams it received. Abel is #1 on the Billboard 200 by a wide margin and also has all 18 tracks from the album in the Hot 100, meaning he nearly occupies nearly 1/5 of the entire chart. Goddamn.
Bruno Mars is the only other hip-hop/R&B-related release in the top 10, with Drake getting bumped back to #12 with VIEWS. A Tribe Called Quest, Rae Sremmurd, and the Suicide Squad soundtrack all land in the top 20.
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1) The Weeknd — Starboy: Unsurprisingly, The Weeknd has claimed the #1 spot with Starboy. The record is massive, and has been getting praise all over the internet, along with debuting all 18 songs in the Billboard Hot 100. Abel Tesfaye, here with this third LP, kicks off the run with 347,966 TAEU and 209,466 sales.
2) Bruno Mars — 24K Magic: Coming in at #4 is Bruno Mars, who debuted at #2 last week with 24K Magic. The pop star clocks 72,856 TAEU and 51,932 sales in his second week on the charts.
3) Drake – VIEWS: Having occupied the #10 spot last week, Drake has finally been bounced out of the top 10 this time around. He’s in the #12 spot now, but VIEWS still adds 30,936 TAEU and 7,457 sales to its success.
4) A Tribe Called Quest — We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service: Q-Tip and gang debuted at the #1 spot, and last week they held down #3, but this week they are in the #15 spot with their return album We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. With 27,935 TAEU and 22,291 records sold, it still isn’t a bad week for the Queens rappers.
5) Rae Sremmurd — SremmLife 2: The “Black Beatles” duo holds down the #16 spot this week, down from #8 last week. It seems the flash-in-the-pan viral nature of the Mannequin Challenge has run its course, but the Rae Sremmurd boys still count 27,549 TAEU and 2,287 sales this week.
6) Various Artists – Suicide Squad: The Album: With contributions from Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Eminem, and a Grammy-nominated track by Skrillex and Rick Ross, the Suicide Squad soundtrack is stacked. After a few months in the top 10, it now sits at #18 with 25,640 TAEU and 12,964 sales to its name this week.
7) Rihanna – ANTI: Rihanna’s eighth studio album ANTI is up for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the Grammys, and the record has had great success on the Billboard charts this year as well. After 45 weeks on the chart, the record is still in the top 30, coming in at #27 this week with 18,023 TAEU and 3,291 sales.
8) Travis Scott – Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight: Travis Scott’s sophomore record is at #32 this week, down just a few spots from last week. The record clocks 16,772 TAEU and 3,099 pure sales, with a little help from Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, and Andre 3000 who had features on the album.
9) Prince — 4ever: This is a greatest hits compilation of Prince’s biggest tracks, including “1999” and “Purple Rain.” In its second week on the charts, the quietly released record comes in at #35, moving 6,223 TAEU and 13,751 sales.
10) The Weeknd — Beauty Behind the Madness: Not only does Abel Tesfaye hold down the #1 spot with the new record, but the old one hasn’t strayed too far away either. Beauty Behind the Madness clocks 16,165 TAEU and 4,269 sales in its 66th week on the charts, no doubt receiving a little boost from the release of Starboy.
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The Weeknd has all 18 of his Starboy tracks on the Billboard Hot 100, which is an insane feat, however Rae Sremmurd still has the #1 song with “Black Beatles.” Nicki Minaj and Arianna Grande’s “Side to Side” finally breaks into the top 5, holding down #4. Kendrick Lamar and Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know” climbs up to #8, its peak position thus far, while D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” slips from #9 to #10. Drake has five songs on the chart, Rihanna and Future each have four, and 21 Savage has three.
