Billboard 200

Lil Durk’s ‘7220’ Returns To No. 1 On The ‘Billboard’ Albums Chart

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Back in 2015, Lil Durk told the world to Remember My Name with his debut album and nowadays it’s a lot easier to do so thanks to his recent mainstream success. In 2020 he earned two top-2 albums with Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 and The Voice. He also got himself a top-2 single thanks to “Laugh Now, Cry Later” with Drake. Last year, Durk earned his first No. 1 album through Voice Of The Heroes with Lil Baby, and this year, he scored his first solo chart-topping album with 7220. Now, 7220 is Durk’s first full-length release to spend multiple weeks at No. 1.

7220 returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated April 23, 2022. It did so on a low-selling week as 7220 reclaimed the top crown by selling just 47,000 units. That number is comprised of 46,000 streaming equivalent album units thanks to 68.56 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs. 7220 also had less than 1,000 pure albums units sold in its return to No. 1. Lil Durk’s seventh album had the lowest sales week for a No. 1 album since A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s 2019 release Hoodie SZN topped the charts with just 46,500 album units sold.

Elsewhere, Jack White’s Fear Of The Dawn made for the highest Billboard 200 debut this week as it checked it at No. 4 with 42,000 albums units sold. 42 Dugg and EST Gee’s Last Ones Left checks in at No. 7, Fivio Foreign’s B.I.B.L.E. arrives at No. 9, while Camila Cabello rounds out the top ten with Familia.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Machine Gun Kelly Earns His Second No. 1 Album With ‘Mainstream Sellout’

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Machine Gun Kelly’s transition from a rapper to a rocker has definitely served him well. He began the transition back in 2019 after the release of his fourth album Hotel Diablo. His next project, which was 2020’s Tickets To My Downfall, was his first full-fledge pop-punk album and it also became his first No. 1 album after it topped the Billboard 200 chart. Sure, Kelly has faced some criticism for his position in the rock world, but that hasn’t stopped his success. Less than two years after landing his first No. 1 album, Kelly finds himself on top of the charts again with his sixth album Mainstream Sellout.

In its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Mainstream Sellout sold 93,000 album units. That number is comprised of 50,000 streaming equivalent album units and 42,000 pure album sales, which also makes Mainstream Sellout the best-selling album of the week. Kelly’s sixth album received a boost on the charts thanks to deluxe editions and boxed sets that were made available for fans to buy on his official website. Nonetheless, Mainstream Sellout still would have gone No. 1 without any sales from non-traditional sellers which includes web-based stores.

Mainstream Sellout is the first rock album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in over a year. The last rock album to do so was AC/DC’s Power Up when it topped the charts on November 28, 2020. Mainstream Sellout also had the largest week for a rock album since Paul McCartney’s McCartney III debuted with 107,000 units sold in its first week on January 2, 2021.

Mainstream Sellout is out now via Bad Boy and Interscope Records. You can stream it here.

Lil Durk Lands His First Solo No. 1 Album With ‘7220’

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Lil Durk has been a steady rise upward in the hip-hop world over the last few years. Things began to change for the Chicago rapper in 2019 when he released his fourth album Love Songs 4 the Streets 2. When it was released, that project became his first release to debut in the top five of the album charts. Months later, he landed his highest position on the singles chart thanks to “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” his collaboration with Drake. Afterward, he reached new heights on the Billboard 200 with The Voice and Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 both peaking at No. 2. Now, with his latest album, Durk has secured his first No. 1.

Just a little over a week after he released his seventh album 7220, the project debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. This makes for Durk’s first solo chart-topping album and his second consecutive No. 1 following Voice Of The Heroes, his joint album with Lil Baby. With its debut at No. 1, 7220 sold 120,500 album units in its first week on the charts. That number is comprised of 117,500 streaming equivalent album units and 2,500 pure album sales.

7220 makes for the fifth top-five album of Durk’s career. It also gives him the third-largest overall week for an album released in 2022. It sits behind Gunna’s DS4EVER (150,300) and The Weeknd’s Dawn FM (148,000).

Gunna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West’s First Two Albums Reach New ‘Billboard’ 200 Album Chart Success

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Despite Kanye West’s ongoing divorce troubles, things are looking up in the other parts of his life. Although fans can’t officially get his new album Donda 2 without buying the $200 stem player, it looks like the new album’s discourse dominance combined with the social media success of the Netflix Jeen-Yuhs documentary have helped propel some of the rapper’s catalog classics to new heights.

Billboard reports a huge resurgence on the Billboard 200 album chart for the first two albums in Kanye’s iconic discography, with The College Dropout reaching a 15-year peak and Late Registration returning to the chart for the first time in five years. The College Dropout, which contained the hits “Through The Wire” and “Slow Jamz” — both of which were highlighted in Jeen-Yuhs with footage from their respective recording sessions — jumped from No. 109 to No. 36, the highest it’s been since March of 2005. Meanwhile, Late Registration, which helped cement Kanye as a cultural force, returned to the chart at No. 184.

Meanwhile, those fans who did dish out the double-Benjamin down payment on Donda 2 received 16 tracks last week in addition to the four that hit just days before. Those who wanted to get the album by other means have done so with the help of a stem player emulator a Redditor shared on the forum shortly after the album’s release date, while others found themselves downloading a similarly-titled album by someone named Wanye Kest on Apple Music.

Classic Eminem And Dr. Dre Albums Are Back In The Top 10 After The Super Bowl Halftime Show

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This year’s hip-hop-focused Super Bowl Halftime Show — featuring Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and 50 Cent — was generally well-received. It also managed to renew interest in some of the performers’ music, as the new Billboard 200 chart indicates: On the chart dated February 26 (which accounts for listening activity from February 11 to 17, while the Super Bowl was on the 13th), albums by Eminem and Dr. Dre have returned to the top 10 for the first time in years.

Eminem’s Curtain Call: The Hits (a former No. 1 on the chart) had a major rise, as it ascended to No. 8 this week, up from No. 126 the previous week. That’s thanks to about 31,000 equivalent album units earned, an increase of 256 percent. Meanwhile, Dr. Dre’s 2001 rose from No. 108 to No. 9 with about 30,500 units (a 220-percent increase). Its previous peak was at No. 2 on the chart dated December 4, 1999.

This is the first time Curtain Call has found itself in the top 10 since the chart dated March 11, 2006, when it was No. 8. The last time 2001 was in the top 10 was on the May 13, 2000, when it ranked No. 9.

Those albums were well-represented during the halftime show: Eminem performed “Lose Yourself,” while three 2001 songs — “The Next Episode,” “Forgot About Dre,” and “Still D.R.E.,” made the setlist.

Elsewhere on the chart, the smash hit Encanto soundtrack is once again No. 1, for a sixth total week. That ties it with Adele’s 30 for the third-most weeks spent at No. 1 in the last five years (since January 2017). Ahead of those LPs are Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (ten weeks) and Taylor Swift’s Folklore (eight weeks).

Gunna’s ‘DS4EVER’ Edges Out The Weeknd For The Top Spot On The ‘Billboard’ 200

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Gunna has already been atop the Billboard 200 once before in his career with 2020’s Wunna. But now he’s officially a two-time chart-topper as DS4EVER is the new No. 1 album in on the Billboard 200 chart. The album — which features appearances from Young Thug, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Drake, Future, Roddy Rich, and more — clocked 150,300 units sold in its first week to top the chart dated January 22, while de-throning the soundtrack to Disney’s Encanto.

It was a close race to the top this week, as The Weeknd’s Dawn FM came in at No. 2 with 148,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending January 13. Dawn FM, with features from Tyler The Creator, Lil Wayne, Quincy Jones, and Jim Carey, might have seemed the clubhouse favorite to most, with its elaborate rollout and The Weeknd’s high-profile appearances, but the runner-up spot will have to suffice for now. The aforementioned Encanto soundtrack dropped down to No. 3, despite boasting its highest weekly tally of units sold with 95,700. Adele’s 30 and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album round out the rest of the top five.

But for Gunna, this marks a steady history of success on the Billboard 200. Beyond the No. 1 status of DS4EVER and Wunna, in 2018, the Atlanta rapper’s Drip Season 3 mixtape peaked at No. 55, and his collaboration with Lil Baby, Drip Harder, reached No. 4. His 2019 debut studio album, Drip Or Drown 2 topped out at No. 3.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Disney’s ‘Encanto’ Soundtrack Dethrones Adele’s ’30’ From The Top Of The ‘Billboard’ 200

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Since its release last fall, Adele’s 30 has ruled the charts. It began with the biggest first week in four years thanks to 839,000 album units sold in its debut on the Billboard 200. At one point, 30 was the only album to sell over a million copies in the United States last year. Adele’s fourth album also went on to become the best-selling vinyl of 2021, seizing the crown from Taylor Swift’s Evermore. While 30 eventually became the first No. 1 album of 2022, the album’s uninterrupted reign on the Billboard 200 has come to an end thanks to the soundtrack for Disney’s Encanto film.

For the Billboard 200 chart dated January 15, 2022, the Encanto soundtrack spent its first week at No. 1 thanks to 72,000 album units. That number is comprised of 58,000 streaming equivalent album units and 11,000 pure album sales. Encanto is the sixth soundtrack to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and it marks two years since the last soundtrack reached the top of the charts, that being the one for Frozen II. Lastly, it marks a rare case of an album going No. 1 for the first time weeks after its release. The last project to do this was The Kid Laroi’s F*ck Love which did so last summer.

The decision to release Encanto on Disney+ a month after it debuted in theaters most likely contributed toward its rise to No. 1. As for Adele’s 30, it checks in at No. 2 with only 57,000 units sold in the week ending on January 6.

Seven Years After Its Release, J. Cole’s ‘2014 Forest Hills Drive’ Is Still On The ‘Billboard’ 200

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On December 9th, 2014, J. Cole’s monumental 2014 Forest Hills Drive was released and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Suffice it to say, a lot has happened in the time since for Cole, who frequently finds himself in the mix of a lot of people’s contemporary rap Mt. Rushmore debates. Cole has claimed 15 Grammy nominations (yielding one win) and all six of his albums have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but none can match the unfathomable success of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which has now been on the charts for a whopping 367 straight weeks (as HipHopDX points out).

In fact, it’s actually still in the top 100, currently clocking in at No. 80, humorously down a spot from No. 79 last week. It’s a certified triple-Platinum album — with no features, naturally. Both “No Role Modelz” and “Wet Dreamz” are Platinum songs on their own and the album is Cole’s undisputed crown jewel. This all comes on the heels of Cole’s latest album, The Off-Season, getting Platinum status as of last week — with features from 21 Savage, 6lack, Lil Baby, Bas, and Morray.

When the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony takes place on January 31st, 2022, Cole will be in the running for four awards: Best Rap Album (for The Off-Season, of course), Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song (for “My Life” featuring 21 Savage and Morray), and Best Melodic Rap Performance (for “Pride Is The Devil” featuring Lil Baby). We’ll see if this time his Grammy success will stack up to his Billboard dominance.

Summer Walker’s ‘Still Over’ Is The First No. 1 Album By A Female R&B Singer In Over Five Years

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Summer Walker has a number of accolades and record-breaking moments to her name in her short career. The singer already has a top-five chart entry on the Billboard 200 thanks to her 2019 debut album, Over It. That project also broke the record for the most-streamed album ever by a female R&B artist, surpassing a mark previously held by Beyonce’s Lemonade. This success continued through Summer’s sophomore album, Still Over It, which she released earlier this month. The project became Apple Music’s biggest album debut ever and the platform’s biggest R&B album debut ever in addition to going No. 1 in 40 markets globally. More than a week after its release, Still Over It continues to break records for Summer.

Still Over It went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated November 20, 2021. The album accomplished this by selling 166,000 album units in its first week. This number is comprised of 153,000 streaming equivalent album units which amounts to 201.1 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks. The project also tallied 12,000 pure album sales. With that, Summer lands the first No. 1 album by a female R&B singer in over five years, with the last being Solange’s A Seat At The Table, as well as the biggest week for a female R&B singer since Beyonce’s Lemonade.

Elsewhere, Still Over It earns the biggest first week for an R&B album released in 2021, the largest streaming week ever an R&B album released by a woman, and the fourth-biggest debut by a woman in 2021.

You can revisit our review for Still Over It here.

Still Over It is out now via LVRN/Interscope. Get it here.

Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Earns Its Fifth Overall Week At No. 1

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Drake’s sixth album Certified Lover Boy has spent the second-most weeks at No. 1 in 2021. It trails Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, as that project held on to the top spot for ten consecutive weeks. While Drake’s reign isn’t that impressive, it’s still noteworthy in its own right. The rapper has already collected four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 which began with 631,000 units sold in its first week on the chart, the largest amount for any album released in 2021. Now, more than a month later, Certified Lover Boy is still holding on to the throne on the Billboard 200.

A week after Young Thug earned the second No. 1 album of his career with Punk, an album Drake appears on, Certified Lover Boy reclaimed the top spot on the Billboard 200 dated November 6. It took the No. 1 spot thanks to 74,000 units sold, a number comprised of 73,000 streaming equivalent album units while pure album sales accounted for less than 1,000 units. With its fifth week at No. 1, Certified Lover Boy ties Drake’s 2018 album Scorpion for the second-most weeks spent atop the charts. Both albums fall behind his 2016 effort Views, which posted 13 weeks at No. 1.

Other highlights on the chart this week include Moneybagg Yo’s A Gangsta’s Pain at No. 6, thanks to its newly-released deluxe reissue, and Lana Del Rey’s Blue Bannisters, which checks in at No. 8 to give Del Rey the eighth top-10 album of her career.

Revisit our review of Certified Lover Boy here.