A little over a week ago, British singer/songwriter, Ed Sheeran, dropped of his fourth album following 2017's ÷, No. 6 Collaborations Project. The insanely ambitous projecy included features from an eclectic cast of collaborators including Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, PnB Rock, Khalid, Bruno Mars, Chris Stapleton, YEBBA, and more. His single with Travis Scott, "Antisocial" was released with a hilarious video, showing the two artists abilities to come together cohesively from across two different genres, to produce quite the experience - both visually and in terms of the song itself.
Now, news sees Sheeran earning his third No.1 album with No. 6 Collaborations Project. The 15-track release uniquely includes a guest feature on every. single. track, and across artists in differing genres, so it was sure to get people talking. The release has moved 173,000 equivalent album units in its first week of its release with 70,000 of the total number, representing traditional album sales. The album is also marked by another title, as it represents the single-largest opening week for a pop album by a male artist, since the record held by Shawn Mendes’ self-titled album, which peaked at No. 1 the first week of June, 2018, and which moved 182,000 units. As a whole in 2019, No. 6 raked in the seventh-largest week among all albums in total units. It follows the debut frames of: Jonas Brothers’ Happiness Begins ( with 414,000), Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (with 360,000), Billie Eilish’s When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (with 313,000), Backstreet Boys’ DNA ( with 234,000), BTS’ Map of the Soul: Persona(with 230,000) and Khalid’s Free Spirit (with 202,000). Congrats Ed!