This week the charts are all about Drake, who has both the #1 album and (for the first time ever) #1 song in the country. VIEWS did nearly a million copies sold in its first week, which is virtually unheard of for an artist in 2016. Beyonce falls just behind Drake at the #2 spot after her album LEMONADE debuted at #1 last week. Prince still has ten releases on the chart, which is more than most artists release in a lifetime of music-making, including two in the top 10. Elsewhere, Aesop Rock debuts at #30 with his new release Impossible Kid.
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1) Drake - VIEWS: The anticipation for Drake's latest album was great enough to snag the #1 spot on the Billboard 200. VIEWS moved 1,039,058 TAEU (total album equivalent units) and did 851,675 in pure sales, quite the debut week for an artist in the day and age.
2) Beyonce- LEMONADE: After debuting at #1 last week, Beyonce fell victim to Drake and is now displaced to the #2 spot. She still had a great week though, doing 321,312 TAEU and 196,252 in sales with the album that features the likes of Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Jack White and James Blake.
3) Prince - Purple Rain: Prince's music continues to sell really well in the loom of his death. The legendary singer's magnum opus Purple Rain sticks at the #3 position this week with 75,443 TAEU and 60,332 sales.
4) Prince - Very Best of Prince: One of Prince's many 'best of' compilations, Very Best of Prince, was at #2 last week and fell to #4 this weekn. The greatest hits selection does 69,886 TAEU and 55,441 in pure sales this time around.
5) Rihanna - ANTI: For fifteen weeks now, Rihanna's eighth studio album has been hanging around the top of the Billboard 200. This time she lands at #5, moving 50,688 TAEU and 15,093 in pure sales with the LP still riding high off the success of the smash single "Work."
6) Kanye West - The Life of Pablo: Kanye West's The Life of Pablo still isn't selling many copies, probably because it's only available for purchase on his website for $20, but the streams keep him alive. Doing 26,896 TAEU and 187 sales, TLOP lands at #11 for the second week in a row.
7) Prince - 1999: The 1982 album from Prince comes in at the #14 spot after appearing at #7 last week. This time around the Purple One moves 24,923 TAEU and 23,680 in pure sales of one of his classic records.
8) Kevin Gates - ISLAH: Moving from #16 to #15 this week is Kevin Gates, whose album ISLAH has been his most commercially successful project by a long shot. This week, Gates does 23,135 TAEU and 7,559 in pure sales.
9) Bryson Tiller - T R A P S O U L: Bryson Tiller's T R A P S O U L album has made him a huge success virtually overnight, and his record continues to thrive on the charts. This week Tiller comes in at #16, a sturdy jump up from the #21 spot he was in last week. The count is 22,286 TAEU and 5,758 in pure sales for Bryson this time around.
10) Drake and Future - What a Time To Be Alive: Last week it was at #28, and this week at #20. Maybe VIEWS bumped the sales for the Future collaboration mixtape as well? At any rate, What a Time... does 20,850 TAEU and 4,836 in pure sales for its 33rd week on the charts.
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The main story for this week's Billboard Hot 100 is Drake's "One Dance" snagging the #1 spot. This is the first time that Drake has ever been at #1 for a single of which he is the lead artist of. It's kind of crazy that none of his other huge singles did the trick, but the Caribbean-flavored "One Dance" displaces Desiigner's "Panda" after he climbed slowly to the top.
Perhaps more impressive than having the #1 track is having 20 (!) total songs in the Hot 100, a record-setting statistic that passes Justin Bieber and The Beatles. Drizzy season is upon us, people.
