Not surprisingly, JAY-Z’s critically acclaimed 13th studio album, 4:44, has hit #1 on the Billboard 200 for the week ending July 13. According to Nielsen Music, the project sold 262,296 equivalent album units and is the fourth-largest week for any album of 2017, behind the debuts of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (603,000 units), Drake’s More Life (505,000) and Ed Sheeran’s Divide (451,000).
The Roc Nation Hip Hop mogul’s LP would have entered the chart sooner, but TIDAL didn’t submit its initial numbers for the week ending July 6. Consequently, the album didn’t debut on the following week’s chart. Furthermore, because the platinum-selling 4:44 was also offered as a free download — sponsored by Sprint — the free downloads were ineligible.
Elsewhere on the chart, 21 Savage makes his grand entrance with Issa Album, DJ Khaled’s Grateful takes a 28 percent dip and, once again, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. holds down the #3 position.
JAY-Z Earns 14th #1 Album Of His Career
The numbers are finally in for JAY-Z’s 4:44 and they’re massive. With 173,728 pure album sales, 122,417,276 million streams and 262,296 equivalent album units, 4:44 has officially earned Hov his 14th #1 album. Consequently, JAY now holds the record for the solo artist with the most #1 albums in the 61-year history of the Billboard 200 chart. Every single one of his albums has also debuted at #1 since 1998’s Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life.
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Issa Solid Debut
Despite mixed reviews on 21 Savage’s new project, Issa Album, the Atlanta rapper’s LP has debuted at #2 with 21,819 pure album sales, 76,561 equivalent album units and 77,042,538 streams. The project marks the 24-year-old’s official full-length debut. 2016’s Savage Mode, his joint EP with illustrious producer Metro Boomin, peaked at #23, while his collaborative track with Future, “X,” earned Savage his first platinum-selling track.
DJ Khaled Takes A Dive
Although DJ Khaled’s Grateful — executively produced by his 8-month-old son Asahd — was certified gold by the RIAA over the weekend, sales still took at 28 percent dive this week. This is the third week Khaled’s follow-up to 2016’s Major Key has been on the chart. It sold 7,856 pure albums, 50,204 equivalent album units and was streamed 49,385,943 times. Compared to Major Key, which fell to the #7 spot in its second week, Grateful was remained in the #1 spot for two consecutive weeks.
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Billboard 200 Top Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 7/13/2017
Note: The first number below is this week’s “total album equivalent units” count, an intersection of album sales, single sales, and streams implemented by Billboard’s new rating system. A pure album sales figure is available in bold in parenthesis and information about each album’s streaming count is available in brackets.
- JAY-Z — 4:44 — #1 — 262,296 (173,728) [122,417,276]
- 21 Savage — Issa Album — #2 — 76,561 (21,819) [77,042,538]
- Kendrick Lamar — DAMN. — #3 — 53,860 (12,594) [51,234,738]
- DJ Khaled — Grateful — #4 — 50,204 (7,856) [49,385943]
- Drake — More Life — #10 — 28,768 (1,133) [38,508,666]
- Bruno Mars — 24K Magic — #11 — 28,086 (10,886) [17,689,477]
- 2 Chainz — Pretty Girls Like Trap Music — #12 — 27,259 (5,208) [31,098,906]
- Khalid — American Teen — #13 — 26,231 (3,093) [28,996,753]
- Post Malone — Stoney — #14 — 25,854 (1,598) [30,304,616]
- SZA — CTRL — #15 — 24,350 (4,240) [28,536,991]
