Eminem notches his historic 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with his latest release, Music to Be Murdered By. The set debuts atop the tally with 279,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 23, according to Nielsen Music.
Music to Be Murdered By was surprise-released on Jan. 17 via Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records. It’s Eminem’s first album since another surprise release, Kamikaze, which dropped in 2018 and bowed at No. 1.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Feb. 1-dated chart (where Music to Be Murdered By debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s websites on Jan. 28.
Of Music to Be Murdered By’s total starting sum of 279,000 units, 154,000 are in SEA units, 117,000 are in album sales, and 8,000 are in TEA units. The 154,000 SEA sum equates to 217.6 million on-demand streams for the album’s tracks. That’s the largest streaming week for an album in four months (even counting just audio streams alone), since Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding tallied 220.9 million clicks in its second week of release (chart dated Sept. 28, 2019).
Here’s a look at some of the amazing feats Eminem achieves with his latest No. 1:
One of Only Six Acts With 10 or More No. 1 Albums: Eminem is just the sixth act with at least 10 No. 1 albums. He joins The Beatles (with a record 19), Jay-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen (11), Barbra Streisand (11) and Elvis Presley (10).
Record-Extending 10th No. 1 Debut in a Row: Eminem breaks out of a tie with Kanye West for the most No. 1 debuts in a row on the Billboard 200, as Music to Be Murdered By clocks his 10th consecutive chart-topping arrival. West most recently notched his ninth straight No. 1 debut with Jesus Is King in 2019.
Record-Extending 10th Consecutive No. 1: For both Eminem and West, all of their No. 1s have been consecutive, and all also debuted at No. 1. In turn, Eminem also shakes off a tie with West for the most No. 1 albums in a row.
For both artists, they have only missed No. 1 once in their entire charting history: Eminem with his first entry, 1999’s The Slim Shady LP, and West with his first effort, 2004’s The College Dropout. Both albums debuted and peaked at No. 2.
Back on the new Billboard 200, Halsey’s Manic debuts at No. 2, marking her third straight album to bow in the top two on the tally. Further, as Manic starts with 239,000 equivalent album units earned, it marks Halsey’s biggest week ever, and the largest week for an album by a woman since Taylor Swift’s Lover blew in at No. 1 with 867,000 units on the chart dated Sept. 7, 2019.
Also impressive: Manic’s 239,000-unit start is the biggest week for a No. 2 album since May 14, 2016, when Beyoncé’s Lemonade was in its second week on the tally (321,000 units).
Manic follows Halsey’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (No. 1 in 2017), and Badlands (No. 2 in 2015). In addition, she notched an entry with the 2014 EP Room 93, which topped out at No. 159.
Of Manic’s debut unit sum of 239,000 units, album sales comprise 180,000, while SEA units total 56,000 (equating to 75.6 million on-demand streams of songs on the album) and TEA units account for 3,000. Manic’s first-week album sales number was mostly driven by sales generated by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with Halsey’s upcoming U.S. tour, as well as an array of merchandise/album bundles sold through her official webstore.
The third and final debut in the top 10 is Mac Miller’s first posthumous album, Circles. The set marks Miller’s sixth top 10, and it begins with 164,000 equivalent album units earned. That is Miller’s biggest week for an album, in terms of units earned, since the chart began ranking by equivalent album units in December of 2014.
Of Circles’ start of 164,000 units, 102,000 are SEA (equating to 153.5 million on-demand streams of tunes from the set), 61,000 are album sales (boosted by merchandise/album bundles sold through Miller’s website) and a little over 1,000 are TEA units.
Circles closes out a busy top three on the tally — where Nos. 1-3 are all debuts, and all start with 164,000-plus units. That’s the first time the chart’s top three have all been debuts north of 164,000 units since the chart began ranking titles by equivalent album units in December of 2014.
Further, setting aside debuts in the top three, this is the first time that the top three albums of the week have earned over 164,000 units in more than three years. It last happened on the June 11, 2016 list, when Drake’s Views held at No. 1 with 189,000, Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman debuted at No. 2 with 175,000, and Blake Shelton’s If I’m Honest entered at No. 3 with 170,000.
Back in the Billboard 200’s new top 10, Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial falls 2-4 with 103,000 equivalent album units earned (down 7%), while Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding slips 4-5 with 53,000 units (down 12%). Selena Gomez’s Rare descends 1-6 with 38,000 units (down 66%), Moneybagg Yo’s Time Served slides 3-7 with 37,000 units (down 43%) and DaBaby’s Kirk falls 5-8 with 37,000 units (down 14%).
Closing out the new top 10: Harry Styles’ Fine Line drops 6-9 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned (down 12%) and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? moves 9-10 with 35,000 units (up 2%).
Via: Billboard
