Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ Spends Fifth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Plus: Kenny Chesney, Halestorm and Daughtry debut in the top 10.

For a fifth straight week, Drake’s Scorpion rules the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set continues at No. 1, earning 145,000 equivalent album units (down 21 percent) in the week ending Aug. 2, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, just 12,000 were in traditional sales, as the album continues to be overwhelmingly powered by streaming activity.

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 Aug. 11-dated chart (where Scorpion spends a fifth week at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday, Aug. 7.

Of Scorpion’s total of 145,000 units earned in the latest tracking week, 123,000 were in SEA units (translating to 169.6 million on-demand audio streams), 11,000 were in TEA units and 12,000 were in traditional album sales.

Most Weeks at No. 1 in a Year-and-a-Half: With a fifth week at No. 1, Scorpion clocks the most weeks at No. 1 for an album since The Weeknd’s Starboy spent five nonconsecutive weeks atop the list between Jan. 21 and Feb. 11, 2017. The set bowed at No. 1 on the list dated Dec. 17, 2016, and then vacationed from the top slot until Jan. 21, 2017, the first of four more weeks at No. 1.

Most Consecutive Weeks at No. 1 in Two Years: The last album to spend five weeks in a row at No. 1 was Drake’s Views, which claimed its first nine weeks at No. 1 between May 21 and July 16, 2016. Views ruled for a total of 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. (Scorpion and Views are also the only two albums to spend their firstfive weeks at No. 1 since Feb. 2016. Before that, Adele’s 25 spent its first seven weeks at No. 1, between Dec. 12, 2015 and Jan. 23, 2016. In total, 25 notched nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.)

Second-Most Most Total Weeks at No. 1 for a Hip-Hop Artist: Drake now has 26 total weeks at No. 1 across his eight leaders. He has now surpassed JAY-Z (25 weeks) to become the sole hip-hop artist with the second-most weeks at No. 1. Among hip-hop acts, only Eminem has more weeks at No. 1 with 32.

Five of the Top 20 Biggest Streaming Weeks for an Album: In the latest tracking week, Scorpion generated 169.6 million on-demand audio streams for its 25 tunes. In turn, that ranks as the No. 20 largest streaming week for an album. Scorpion’s first four weeks are also currently the Nos. 1, 3, 7 and 12th-biggest streaming weeks overall.

At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Kenny Chesney debuts with his latest studio effort, Songs for the Saints. The album bows with 77,000 units earned (with 65,000 of that sum in traditional album sales). Songs is Chesney’s debut for Warner Music Nashville after a long tenure with Sony Music Nashville.

Songs is Chesney’s 15th top 10 album on the Billboard 200, and continues his hit streak of top 10s: since 2004, every one of his 14 charting albums have debuted in the top 10. (He also logged a top 10 with 2002’s No. 1 No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.)

Among country artists, the only acts with more top 10s than Chesney on the Billboard 200 are George Strait (20), Garth Brooks (19) and Tim McGraw (18).

Songs is the latest No. 2-debuting album to be blocked from a No. 1 bow on the Billboard 200 courtesy of Scorpion’s dominance atop the list. On the July 28-dated chart, Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers 2 opened in the top slot, while in Scorpion’s opening week (the July 14 chart), Florence + The Machine’s High as Hope debuted and peaked in the No. 2 slot. (A silver lining, perhaps: all three acts — Chesney, Khalifa and Florence + The Machine — have previously topped the list at least once before with an earlier album.)

At No. 3 on the new Billboard 200, Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys is down one slot with 62,000 units (down 5 percent). Juice WRLD’s Goodbye & Good Riddance rises 6-4 with 39,000 units (down 2 percent), Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy is steady at No. 5 with a little more than 38,000 units (down 6 percent) and XXXTentacion’s ?falls two slots to No. 6 with 38,000 units (down 8 percent).

The Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again soundtrack retreats 3-7 with 37,000 units (down 24 percent) earned in its third week. Another soundtrack, The Greatest Showman, moves 8-9 with 28,000 units (down 10 percent).

Two rock bands notch their latest top 10s, as Halestorm and Daughtry’s newest efforts arrive at Nos. 8 and 10, respectively.

Halestorm’s Vicious starts at No. 8 with 29,000 units (27,000 in traditional album sales), marking the second top 10 for the band. The act previously visited the region with their last studio effort, 2015’s Into the Wild Life, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 with 57,000 units earned in its first week.

After a long wait, Daughtry is back with its first new studio set in nearly five years, as Cage to Rattle bows at No. 10 with 26,000 units (24,000 in traditional album sales). Cage is the group’s fifth top 10 effort. The band’s previous studio release, 2013’s Baptized, debuted and peaked at No. 6. (In between Baptized and Cage, the group issued the best-of collection It’s Not Over… The Hits So Far, which reached No. 43 in 2016.)

Source: billboard.com