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Beyonce Goes No. 1 With “COWBOY CARTER,” Her Eighth Chart-Topping Album

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Beyonce’s new blockbuster album COWBOY CARTER has officially nabbed the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Moreover, with around 407,000 units sold according to Luminate data, this marks her eighth No. 1 album debut across her career so far. It’s the biggest sales week of 2024 so far, and the most massive since Taylor Swift’s 1989 reissue last November. In addition, it’s the Houston superstar’s biggest debut since her 2016 LP Lemonade and resulted in her largest streaming week to date, as well as in her becoming the first Black artist to top the publication’s Top Country Albums list.

With this in mind, Beyonce is now fourth in the list of female artists with the most Billboard No. 1 albums, trailing behind Madonna with nine, Barbara Streisand with 11, and Taylor Swift with 13. Furthermore, various physical versions of COWBOY CARTER bolstered these sales, and this was actually her biggest-ever week on vinyl and the biggest for an vinyl album this year so far. The “BLACKBIIRD” singer has a lot to be proud of with this release, as do her featured guests. Beyond credited appearances, this LP also boasted contributions from 070 Shake, Pharrell, Stevie Wonder, Gary Clark Jr., Paul McCartney, Nile Rogers, and many, many more stars.

Read More: Michelle Obama Dishes Out High Praise For Beyonce’s New Album “COWBOY CARTER”

Beyonce Performing During The RENAISSANCE Tour

Beyonce Cowboy Carter Billboard Number One New Album Music News
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – OCTOBER 01: (Editorial Use Only) (Exclusive Coverage) Beyoncé performs onstage during the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 01, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood/Getty Images)

What’s more is that it looks like this horse is still in the race, as we’re still getting additions to the COWBOY CARTER lore. For example, Beyonce released a “Pony Up” remix of the single “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” recently as a bonus treat for the album. We can only hope that there are more planned additions, rollout strategies, and due expansions of the project in the near future. These don’t have to be new tracks per se, but considering how RENAISSANCE went, we’ll all surely stay along for the ride for a long time.

Meanwhile, what did you think of COWBOY CARTER? Is iHeart Radio’s 2024 Innovator striking gold again or are you already waiting on the third installment on the trilogy for another shot at a hit? Whatever the case may be, hit the comments section down below with your thoughts. On that note, keep checking in with HNHH for the latest news and more updates on Beyonce.

Read More: Who Is Shaboozey? The Country-Hip Hop Star Featured On Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter”

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Travis Scott’s “UTOPIA” First Week Sales Are Here, Marks His Third No. 1 Album

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To absolutely no one’s surprise, we now officially know that Travis Scott’s UTOPIA performed incredibly well commercially. Moreover, official sales data for the week of July 28 (the album’s release date), ending August 3, shows that it sold 496K units in its first week. With that, it became the Houston artist’s third album to go No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and two songs from it landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. Furthermore, these are “MELTDOWN” with Drake and “FE!N” with Sheck Wes and Playboi Carti. This is the third biggest opening for any album in 2023 and the largest in the field of hip-hop and R&B this year.

Said chart data comes from press releases, Luminate, and Billboard, confirming the success of this long-awaited project. To elaborate, album-equivalent streams for UTOPIA resulted in 243,000 equivalent units, and it garnered over 650 million global streams. Of course, this means that Travis Scott had huge openings on Apple Music and Spotify, with the album gaining the most first-day streams of any 2023 album on both platforms. On the other hand, physical sales reached 252,000 units, the second-biggest physical sales week of the year so far.

Read More: Travis Scott Brings Out Kanye West In Rome, Labels Him The “Greatest Of All Time”

Travis Scott’s Charting UTOPIA Tracks

What’s more is that just the album’s streams would’ve been enough to carry it to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Considering how much more prevalent streaming generally is these days compared to physical album sales, this is an astounding feat. In addition, its highest-charting song actually carried a significant amount of weight when looking at total streaming numbers, which is a testament to its hit power. “MELTDOWN” accounts for 10% of all UTOPIA‘s current streams according to this new data.

Meanwhile, there were a lot of physical bundles for UTOPIA that led to these huge numbers. These include CD variants, bundles, digital sales, and most impressively, vinyl. In fact, it’s the largest sales week for any hip-hop or R&B vinyl since Luminate started tracking these metrics in 1991. Let us know in the comments how you visited UTOPIA. Also, come back to HNHH for the latest news and updates on Travis Scott.

Read More: Travis Scott & Live Nation Settle Lawsuit With Third Family Over Astroworld Festival Tragedy: Report

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The post Travis Scott’s “UTOPIA” First Week Sales Are Here, Marks His Third No. 1 Album appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

SZA Reacts To Matching With Beyoncé For This Accomplishment

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Few albums have garnered the success, acclaim, and cultural impact that Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE and SZA’s SOS achieved this decade. Both 2022 projects, and their respective hit songs, resonated deeply with fans and audiences everywhere. Moreover, now the two stars share something in common, something that the TDE singer is incredibly honored by considering she’s a huge fan of Ms. Carter. Furthermore, they are the only two Black women so far to have released a No. 1 album and No. 1 song in the 2020s decade. What’s more is that the “Kill Bill” singer just landed her first chart-topping track with that song’s remix featuring Doja Cat.

“To be next to the queen is an honor,” SZA wrote on Instagram commemorating the achievement shared with Beyoncé. Just a couple of days before, she thanked fans for their insane support that took the “Kill Bill” remix to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. “Took me a over week to process cause I dreamt of this my entire career.. didn’t feel real lol, still doesn’t,” the 33-year-old shared. “but I wanna say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. Every person, every fan base every ear that listened and pushed for me . Can’t believe we have a number 1 record.”

SZA & Beyoncé Are Leading The Way This Decade

What’s more is that SZA is such a fan of Beyoncé that she’s ready to throw hands for her tour tickets. During an Instagram Live session with Lizzo, they spoke on seeing her live, which the “Grrrls” singer’s done an astonishing 11 times (including Destiny’s Child performances). “The only time I seen Beyoncé perform was at Coachella, and it was f***ing crazy,” SZA remarked. “You making it seem like it’s okay to fight for these tickets now. I’m going to fight for them. It was like taboo trying to fight for them because everyone was trying to get them.”

Meanwhile, the “Gone Girl” star spoke to The Los Angeles Times about Bey’s Grammys loss this year. “Beyoncé — she’s so much bigger than a f***ing Grammy. She’s Beyoncé! She’s done it for women, she’s done it for Black people, she’s done it for artists, she’s done so much for the world by just being herself.” For the latest news, updates, and achievements from SZA and Beyoncé, check back in with HNHH.

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SZA Earns First No. 1 Song Of Her Career With “Kill Bill”

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As her career seems to get bigger by the minute, SZA just landed the first No. 1 song of her career on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Kill Bill.” Of course, this follows a very well-received remix featuring Doja Cat that dropped recently, so hype around the track is at an all-time high which is saying much. As one of the standout hits from her most recent album, it’s been hard not to hear the song for the past few months. Moreover, the track beat out other powerhouse cuts from Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Drake, and many more.

Furthermore, this is yet another move of greatness from SZA, although a recent news story about an odd development also caught many’s attention. Jay Electronica recently revealed in verse form that the “Gone Girl” singer apparently has him blocked on social media. “I did an album with Hov, lames let all their hate vent,” Electron’ rapped. “So I fell back three years like, ‘Go ahead, be great then’ / I popped out with Flygod, I popped out on ‘Donda’ / I popped out with Russ, then Vic Mensa and then Ambré / I popped up at Spades and I popped up at Vandals / And my sister keep asking why I got blocked by Solana [SZA].”

SZA Nabs First-Ever No. 1 Song With “Kill Bill”

Regardless of that strange interaction, SZA had some thankful words for everyone supporting “Kill Bill” and its remix recently. “I jus wanted to say THANK YOU,” the 33-year-old posted on Instagram. “To every single person rooting for me. Thank you doja cat for your talent and time! This music s**t is weird and fickle, but y’all always come together for me at the end of the day. It’s why I always try my hardest to give you my best. That won’t ever stop. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!’ STREAM KILL BILL REMIX (feat doja cat) AND ORIGINAL.”

Meanwhile, the TDE star has the whole industry fiending for a feature or collaboration, including Lil Durk. “@sza the goat,” the Chicago MC wrote on his Instagram Story. “Y’all bet not sleep or get blind. Every female every car every sale she really her… I need you on my album ASAP. A hit not a regular song. Go tag sza blow her s**t down. Tell her Smurk need her.” For the latest on SZA and her incredible career, log back into HNHH.

SZA’s “SOS” Hits 5th Straight Week At No. 1 On Billboard 200

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SZA has reached a historic milestone with the success of her newest album, SOS. The project has now dominated the Billboard 200 for a fifth consecutive week, making it the first album to spend its first five weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 30.

For the latest week, SOS moved 125,000 equivalent US album units. The figure represents a dropoff of less than 1% from the previous week.

NEWARK, NJ – AUGUST 05: SZA attends Black Girls Rock! 2017 at NJPAC on August 5, 2017 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for BET)

The top five of the chart was rounded out by Taylor Swift’s Midnights (No. 2), Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (No. 3), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (No. 4), and Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (No. 5).

Additionally, SOS hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters chart for the first time. The achievement was made possible due to 15 SOS tracks charting on the Hot 100 chart. SZA responded to the impressive feat in a tweet shared on Saturday.

“I appreciate every milestone and accolade but THIS?” SZA tweeted. “As a writer [this] means so fucking much to me. I aspire to be a better writer everyday thank you WOW.”

Further promoting SOS, SZA recently released a new music video for the track, “Kill Bill.” Additionally, SZA will be embarking on the S.O.S. Tour next month alongside Omar Apollo. She’ll be kicking things off in Columbus, Ohio on February 21. The shows will wrap up in Los Angeles on March 22.

SZA released SOS back on December 9, 2022. The project features several high-profile guest appearances from Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

Check out SZA’s recent tweet regarding the success of SOS below.

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