The Weeknd's surprise EP My Dear Melancholy, has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Billboard reports. The project has launched with 169,000 equivalent album units, 68,000 of which came through in traditional sales.
With 94,000 SEA, MDM earns the third biggest streaming week for a project in 2018, which is impressive due to its short length (6 tracks). The leading streaming week for 2018 is held, unsurprisingly, by Migos' 24-track Culture II, while the second biggest sum was achieved by controversial rapper XXXTentacion's 18-track ?. In fact, the EP is the shortest project (by number of tracks) to top the album charts in nearly eight years. The last time a 6-track project hit No. 1 was Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals soundtrack, which topped the charts in 2010.
My Dear Melancholy, is the Weeknd's third consecutive album to top the charts, following 2016's Starboy and 2015's Beauty Behind The Madness. It is the biggest sales week (in terms of equivalent album units) for an R&B album since The Weeknd's own Starboy in November 2016.
Just below The Weeknd, Rich The Kid's debut album The World Is Yours has launched at No. 2 with 59,000 equivalent album units, only 6,000 of which came through in traditional sales. The album is boosted by Rich's "Plug Walk," which is currently within the top 20 of the Hot 100, making it the rapper's biggest hit to date.