This week, we saw the debut of Lecrae, an artist who -- with the Christian rap audience behind him -- managed to score a #1 debut with his last project, Anomaly. Rather than a proper follow-up to that album, Church Clothes 3 is a continuation of his popular mixtape series, and therefor places at 12 this week, a pretty admirable showing considering.
Outside of that, The Weeknd and Bryson Tiller remain on top of things, with Abel getting dangerously close to breaking a million copies of BBTM. J. Cole's HBO special spike has worn off a bit, but he's still coming close to equaling Drake's total sales of IYRTITL.
Check the full breakdown below.
1) The Weeknd—Beauty Behind The Madness: While maintaining its position as the highest charting rap and R&B release of the week, Beauty Behind The Madness falls from 6 to 9, moving 33,905 units (11,347 excluding streams) and putting its total at 902,803. A platinum plaque doesn't seem to far away.
2) Bryson Tiller—TRAPSOUL: Bryson is down two spots this week, but in general, he's had an admirable chart performance for such a new artist. He's at 10 with 30,924 units moves (10,438 excluding streams). His total sales are 169,000.
3) Lecrae—Church Clothes 3: Lecrae is our sole debut this week, and as usual, he's come through with a good showing, especially as its being billed as a mixtape. The project moves 29,207 units almost entirely traditionally (25,665 excluding streams). He debuts at 12.
4) G-Eazy—When It's Dark Out: G-Eazy is down from 9 to 13, selling 27,494 units (8,078 excluding streams), making his total sales 189,000.
5) Fetty Wap—Fetty Wap: Fetty Wap is still in it, falling from 14 to 10, but still moving 25,592 units of his self-titled album (5,120 excluding streams).
6) Chris Brown—Royalty: Brown takes another fall this week, slipping from 14 to 22, and selling 20,640 copies of Royalty (10,899 excluding streams). His full count is currently at 240,000.
7) Drake & Future—What A Time To Be Alive: Drake and Future are down from 17 to 23, as they manage to sell 19,746 copies, almost entirely through streaming (3,197 without), making their total sales 519,000.
8) J. Cole—2014 Forest Hills Drive: After a big leap upwards last week, Cole's album has settled back at 27 from 16. He's still moving a good amount of albums traditionally each week, which means he's inching closer to Drake's total. This week he moves 18,396 units (6,702 excluding streams). His total is at 1,114,000.
9) Flo Rida—My House: Flo Rida continues his way back up the charts this week, jumping from 38 to 29. He moves 17,145 units (1,969 excluding streams).
10) Future—DS2: Future's album takes quite a dip from 26 to 34, but you wouldn't know from the downloads his new mixtape accumulated. He sells 15,330 units (3,084 excluding streams), putting him at 350,000 total sales.
Justin Bieber has become one of only 17 artists to occupy both the numer 1 and number 2 spots on the Hot 100 this week, with "Love Yourself" moving to the runner-up position as Adele's "Hello" switches out for 3. "Sorry," meanwhile, remains on top.
Elsewhere, The Weeknd's "In The Night," continues its gradual ascent, moving from 15 to 13, and suggesting a possible entry into the top ten in the coming weeks. Young Thug's "Best Friend" is up from 52 to 45, Jeremih's "Oui" up from 64 to 55, and Kevin Gates' "2 Phones" up from 71 to 62.
Entering the chart at 100 is yet another Weeknd single, "Acquainted," coming into the Hot 100 for a second time. Something tells us BBTM still has quite a lot of mileage left in it.