Macklemore’s Gemini, his first official solo album since 2005’s Language Of My World, has debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending September 28. Jumping 467 percent after its debut at #100 last week was Kevin Gates’ By Any Means 2, which came in at #4 after a full week of sales. Jhené Aiko’s Tripalso makes its entrance in the fifth spot of the Top 5 with 10,369 pure album sales. Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2 holds steady at #3, while XXXTENTACION’s17 falls out of the Top 10, settling in at #12.
Planets Align For Macklemore
Macklemore took a chance and moved forward without his production partner Ryan Lewis for his new solo album, Gemini, which features Lil Yachty, Offset and pop princess Kesha. With 50,672 total album equivalent units sold (27,266 pure album sales and a streaming count of 24,266,894), the risk paid off. The album debuted at #2, right behind The Killers’ Wonderful Wonderful.
Mack’s last album with Lewis, 2016’s This Unruly Mess I’ve Made,debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200, dropped to #31 in its second week and fell off completely after week seven.
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Kevin Gates Finds Redemption
After initially debuting at #100, Kevin Gates’ By Any Means 2 has moved up the chart by 467 percent to land at #4. It seems the currently incarcerated rapper’s album was released slightly ahead of schedule, causing the first-week numbers to reflect only one day of sales. For its first full week, the album sold 39,728 total album equivalent units, with 15,036 in pure albums and a streaming count of 33,663,431. Without the flub, it’s likely Gates would have debuted higher on the chart.
Part one of the mixtape, By Any Means, debuted at #17 in 2014. His official solo album, 2016’s Islah, debuted at #2 with a total of 112,000 album equivalent units sold in its first week. Islah is currently sitting at #145 in its 87th week on the chart.
Jhené Aiko’s Trip Is All Gravy
Beginning with a short film, Jhené Aiko’s rollout for her latest project, Trip, appears to have worked wonders. With 37,471 total album equivalent units, 10,369 pure album sales and a streaming count of 37,797,295, her follow-up to 2014’s Souled Out lands at #5.
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Her last collaborative project with boyfriend Big Sean, Twenty88,was released last year and debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. It also nabbed #1 on the Billboard’s Digital Albums, Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums, Rap Albums and R&B Albums charts.
Top 10 Billboard Top 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 9/28/2017
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.
- Macklemore — Gemini — #2 — 50,672 (27,266) [24,266,894]
- Lil Uzi Vert — Luv Is Rage 2 — #3 — 45,170 (1,073) [63,848,080]
- Kevin Gates — By Any Means 2 — #4 — 39,728 (15,036) [33,663,431]
- Jhené Aiko — Trip — #5 — 37,471 (10,369) [37,797,295]
- Post Malone — Stoney — #6 — 36,502 (2,964) [45,161,839]
- Kendrick Lamar — DAMN. — #8 — 34,120 (7,316) [35,788,006]
- Khalid — American Teen — #9 — 31,866 (3,771) [37,519,727]
- Lecrae — All Things Work Together — #11 — 29,227 (20,322) [10,992,288]
- XXXTENTACION — 17 — #12 — 29,141 (1,144) [40,539,154]
- SZA — CTRL — #14 — 24,002 (3,055) [29,207,120]
