Eminem earns his eighth straight No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his latest studio release, Revival, opens atop the tally. It launches with 267,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 21, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 197,000 were in traditional album sales. Eminem is the first act to achieve eight consecutive chart entries that debuted at No. 1.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Jan. 3-dated chart (where Revival debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s websites on Wednesday (Dec. 27). (The new chart is dated on a rare Wednesday date, instead of the usual Saturday, as Billboard is adjusting how it dates its charts and magazine issues.)
Revival was released on Dec. 15 through Web/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records. The set is Eminem’s first new studio album since 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which debuted at No. 1 with 792,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen Music. (The Billboard 200 did not transition to a units-based tally until the end of 2014.)
Revival notches the third-largest week of 2017 among hip-hop albums, both in total units and album sales, trailing only the debuts of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (603,000 units; 353,000 album sales) and Drake’s More Life (505,000 units; 225,000 album sales).
With his eighth No. 1, Eminem is now tied with Kenny Chesney, Madonna and U2 for the sixth-most leaders in the history of the chart. Ahead of them are The Beatles (with 19), JAY-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand (each with 11), Elvis Presley (10), and Garth Brooks and The Rolling Stones (both with nine).
Elsewhere in the top 10 of the chart, rappers G-Eazy and Jeezy both bow in the top 10 with their newest efforts, The Beautiful & Damned and Pressure, respectively.
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Taylor Swift’s former leader, Reputation, holds at No. 2 with 133,000 units (up 33 percent). Of that figure, 105,000 were in pure album sales. With one week left in Nielsen Music’s 2017 tracking year, Reputation has now sold 1.82 million copies.
G-Eazy debuts at No. 3 with The Beautiful & Damned, marking his third top 10 in a row, and total. The album, which is his third full-length major label studio effort, enters with 122,000 units (68,000 in traditional album sales). He previously hit the top 10 with When It’s Dark Out (No. 5 in 2015) and These Things Happen (No. 3 in 2014).
G-Eazy’s new album is currently enjoying a hit single with “No Limit,” featuring A$AP Rocky and Cardi B. The track reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Dec. 16, granting G-Eazy his second top 10, following “My, Myself & I” with Bebe Rexha.
Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) dips from No. 3 to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 90,000 units (though it’s up 29 percent), while Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas shifts from No. 4 to No. 5 with 75,000 units (up 12 percent).
Jeezy logs his ninth top 10 album with Pressure, which debuts at No. 6 with 72,000 units (54,000 in traditional album sales). The rapper has yet to miss the top 10 with a charting album, stretching back to his debut on the list, 2005’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, which peaked at No. 2. Among his nine top 10s are three No. 1s: The Inspiration (2006), The Recession (2008) and Trap or Die 3 (2016).
Rounding out the new top 10: Sam Smith’s The Thrill of It All rises 8-7 (60,000 units; up 30 percent), Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country falls 1-8 in its second week (48,000 units; down 55 percent), Garth Brooks’ The Anthology: Part I, The First Five Years ascends 12-9 (46,000 units; up 29 percent) and Chris Stapleton’s From A Room: Volume 2 drops 7-10 (45,000 units; down 2 percent).
Eminem's 'Revival' Debuts at No. 1 267/197k, G Eazy #3 122/68k
Alex
#1