Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ Spends Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Wiz Khalifa Bows at No. 2

For a third straight week, Drake’s Scorpion holds at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set earned 260,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 19, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 29,000 were in traditional album sales.

Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers 2 is the only debut in the top 10, as it starts at No. 2 with 80,000 units.

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 are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new July 28-dated chart (where Scorpion spends a third week at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday, July 24.

A Third Week at No. 1: With a third week at No. 1, Scorpion ties for the most weeks atop the Billboard 200 in 2018 with Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys and Black Panther: The Album. The latter notched three nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 (Feb. 24, March 3 and then on March 17), while the former strung three straight weeks together (May 12-26). The last album to claim more weeks at No. 1 was Taylor Swift’s reputation, which collected four nonconsecutive weeks in the penthouse (three in a row from Dec. 2-16, 2017, and then one more on Jan. 6, 2018).

Biggest First Three Weeks for an Album Since 2015: With Scorpion earning 260,000 equivalent album units in its third week, it’s the first album since Adele’s 25 to see its first three weeks all earn more than 260,000 units apiece. 25 launched with a weekly-record 3.48 million units (Dec. 12, 2015-dated chart), and then racked up 1.16 million and 728,000 in its second and third weeks, respectively (Dec. 19 and 26).

Streaming continues to power Scorpion, as 82 percent of its total units for the week came from SEA units (213,000 of 260,000). Traditional album sales totaled 29,000, while TEA units equaled 18,000.

‘Scorpion’ Has Three of the Top 10 Biggest Streaming Weeks: Scorpion continues to be a powerhouse on streaming services. The set’s 25 tracks collected 290.4 million on-demand audio streams in the latest tracking week, making it the seventh-biggest streaming week for an album. Scorpion’s opening sum of 745.9 million is the biggest streaming week ever, while the album’s second week total of 391 million is the third-largest.

Drake Owns Six of the Top 10 Largest Streaming Weeks for an Album: Drake’s Scorpion has the first, third and seventh-biggest streaming weeks for an album. In addition, his 2017 set More Life has the fourth-largest (384.8 million in its opening frame) and eighth-largest (253.5 million for its second week), while the debut week of his 2016 LP Views is No. 9 (245.1 million).

Second-Smallest Sum for the Week’s Top-Selling Album: Conversely, reflecting the continued decline of album sales, as Scorpion stays steady at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, it’s also stationary at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart for a third frame. The latter list ranks albums based on traditional album sales. Scorpion sold 29,000 copies in the latest tracking week (up less than 1 percent) and tallies the second-smallest sum for the week’s top-selling album since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991.

The smallest sales total ever for the week’s No. 1-selling album was actually notched by Scorpion a week ago, when it sold a handful of copies less than this week’s total. Scorpion was able to squeak out a small gain in the week ending July 19, as its CD was released on July 13. The set was previously only available to purchase as a digital album. The CD debuts with 13,000 copies sold in the week ending July 19, while the digital album sold 16,000 (down 44 percent).

Only One Debut in the Top 10: With just one debut in the top 10 on the new Billboard 200 (Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers 2, at No. 2), the top 10 has the fewest debuts since the April 7-dated tally, when Jack White’s No. 1-debuting Boarding House Reach was the lone bow in the top 10.

Speaking of Khalifa, Rolling Papers 2 grants the rapper his ninth overall chart entry, and his fifth top 10. He previously visited the top 10 with Khalifa (No. 6 in 2016), Blacc Hollywood (No. 1, 2014), O.N.I.F.C. (No. 2, 2012) and Rolling Papers (No. 2, 2011).

As for the rest of the new top five, Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys is down one position to No. 3 with 68,000 units (down 4 percent), XXXTentacion’s ? is a non-mover at No. 4 with 45,000 units (down 12 percent) and Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy is steady at No. 5 with 44,000 units (down 2 percent).

Juice WLRD’s Goodbye & Good Riddance is stationary at No. 6 with 41,000 units (up 1 percent), The Greatest Showman soundtrack holds at No. 7 with 31,000 units (up 1 percent) and Lil Baby’s Harder Than Ever is up two slots to No. 8 with 26,000 units (down 1 percent).

Maroon 5’s Red Pill Blues returns to the top 10 for the first time in 2018, as the set climbs 12-9 with a little more than 25,000 units (up 1 percent). The album continues to profit from the popularity of its track “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B. The set was last in the top 10 during its third chart week, back on Dec. 9, 2017, when it placed at No. 7.

Closing out the new top 10 is Luke Combs’ This One’s for You, as it steps 13-10 with 25,000 units (up 2 percent).

Source: billboard.com