Christmas is always a big week for album sales, and we saw a few releases dropping December 18th, just in time for last minute gifts. Chris Brown's Royalty certainly seemed to benefit from the strategy, coming in with a big week, despite not earning the usual smash single that precedes Brown's albums. Pusha T's prelude album Darkest Before Dawn was a little lower down at 20, but seeing as its just a warm-up for the GOOD Music president's proper album, King Push, it's not too bad of a placement.
1) Chris Brown—Royalty: Going into his first week, Chris didn't have a single quite as strong as 2013's "Loyal", but he still proved his fans were just that, coming through with an impressive sales week of 184,454 units (161,582 excluding streams). Unfortunately, his competition was Adele and Bieber, so he had to settle for the number 3 spot.
2) The Weeknd—Beauty Behind The Madness: The Weeknd falls from 5 to 9 this week, but still benefits from the Christmas haul, with 71,980 units sold (40,367 excluding streams). 837,680
3) Pusha T—Darkest Before Dawn: Pusha T also made his debut this week, coming in with some more modest numbers for Darkest Before Dawn, the prequel to his upcoming album King Push. He moves 45,297 units (39,266 excluding streams), which puts him at 20.
4) Fetty Wap—Fetty Wap: Fetty is just below Pusha, rising from 23 to 21 and bringing in 41,618 units (14,023 excluding streams).
5) Monica—Code Red: Our third debut of the week comes from none other than R&B icon Monica. Her first album in 3 years moves 35,656 copies in its first week (33,718 excluding streams), and comes in at 27.
6) G-Eazy—When It's Dark Out: G-Eazy takes a pretty major slip this week, moving from 18 to 28. His new LP sells 35,201 copies (18,253 excluding streams).
7) Bryson Tiller—TRAPSOUL: Tiller falls from 25 to 33 this week, pushed out by some more obvious Christmas picks like Adele's back catalog. He still moves 33,215 units (14,189 excluding streams) as "Don't" continues to get radio play.
8) R. Kelly—Buffet: R. Kelly's second week sees him taking a considerable fall, slipping from 16 to 38. He's still moving the album almost entirely in traditional sales, with 26,673 units sold (25,198 excluding streams).
The top 5 of the Hot 100 has been pretty locked in over the last few weeks, with Adele and Justin Bieber occupying the top two spots. Drake's immortal "Hotline Bling" has finally fallen from 3 to 4, replaced by yet another Bieber hit ("Love Yourself"). Meanwhile, Drake and Future's "Jumpman" is inching closer to top ten status, sliding from 23 to 12. Elsewhere, Travis Scott's "Antidote" sticks around at 16, and Bryson Tiller's "Don't" is up from 20 to 18. Yo Gotti's infectious street single "Down In The DM" is up from 57 to 52, while Young Thug's "Best Friend" rises to 63 from 78. Kevin Gates' "Really Really" and Future's "Stick Talk" have entered the charts at 94 and 99 respectively.
Who will have the biggest rap single of 2016? Let us know in the comments.