Metro Boomin’s ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Plus: Takeoff debuts in the top 10; Queen surges with “Bohemian Rhapsody” & “Greatest Hits I II & III.”

Metro Boomin lands his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as the producer’s new guest-laden album, Not All Heroes Wear Capes, debuts in the top slot. The surprise set, which was announced Oct. 31 and released Nov. 2 via Boominati/Republic Records, earned 99,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 8, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 5,000 were in album sales, as the album was largely driven 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 Nov. 17-dated chart (where Heroes starts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

The 25-year-old Metro Boomin (born Leland Wayne) has produced hits such as Migos’ “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert (No. 1 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart), Future’s “Mask Off” (No. 5), Kodak Black’s “Tunnel Vision” (No. 6) and Post Malone’s “Congratulations,” featuring Quavo (No. 8).

On Heroes, Metro is joined by an array of guest artists, including Travis Scott, Young Thug, 21 Savage and J Balvin, among many others.

Streams power the bulk of Heroes’ starting sum of 99,000 units. Of that sum, it earns 92,000 SEA units, which translates to 125.3 million on-demand audio streams for the set’s tracks in its first week (making it the most streamed album of the week, too). The remaining 7,000 units in Heroes’ starting figure are comprised of album sales (5,000) and TEA units (2,000).

Metro Boomin previously visited the top 10 twice, with Double or Nothing, with Big Sean (No. 6; Dec. 20, 2017), and Without Warning, with 21 Savage and Offset (No. 4; Nov. 18, 2017).

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack holds at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 for a second week, earning 79,000 units (down 15 percent); it spent its first three weeks at No. 1.

Queen earns its highest-charting album in 38 years, as the Bohemian Rhapsody film soundtrack surges 25-3 with 59,000 units (up 187 percent) after the film’s opening in U.S. theaters on Nov. 2. Of its unit haul, album sales comprised 24,000 — up 182 percent).

The companion album to the hit biopic of the same name collects highlights from Queen’s career, including the title tune, “Under Pressure” with David Bowie, a new remix of “We Will Rock You,” and a handful of tracks from the band’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 — the first time the recordings have been released in audio form.

Bohemian Rhapsody is Queen’s highest-reaching album since 1980, when The Gamespent five weeks at No. 1. (The Game includes Queen’s two Hot 100 No. 1 singles: “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”)

The Queen excitement doesn’t stop with Bohemian Rhapsody, as the 51-track Greatest Hits I II & III: The Platinum Collection vaults 194-9 with 39,000 units (up 662 percent), with 18,000 of that sum in album sales (up 380 percent). The album previously topped out at No. 48 in 2002.

With both Bohemian Rhapsody and Greatest Hits I II & III in the top 10, Queen has a pair of albums in the top 10 concurrently for the first time. They also represent the group’s seventh and eighth top 10 albums, overall. Queen was last in the top 10 in the spring of 1992, when the hits set Classic Queen spent six weeks in the top 10 (May 16-June 13), peaking at No. 4. At the time, the album was basking in the glow of the success of the movie Wayne’s World, which featured a head-banging sequence set to “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The song peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 dated May 9, 1992.

At No. 4 on the Billboard 200, Takeoff’s first solo album, The Last Rocket, enters with 49,000 units (5,000 in album sales). Takeoff is the third member of the Migos trio to chart on the Billboard 200 apart from the group, following Quavo (with his solo set Quavo Huncho, which peaked at No. 2; Oct. 27, 2018) and Offset (via his collaborative album Without Warning, with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage; peaking at No. 4, on Nov. 18, 2017).

Drake’s former No. 1 Scorpion climbs 7-5 on the new Billboard 200 with 45,000 units (down 8 percent), Lil Wayne’s fellow former chart-topper Tha Carter V dips 5-6 with 43,000 units (down 17 percent) and Lil Baby and Gunna’s Drip Harder slips 6-7 with 42,000 units (down 16 percent).

Closing out the top 10 are two more former No. 1s: Travis Scott’s Astroworld climbs 9-8 with 40,000 units (down 11 percent) and Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys is steady at No. 10 with 39,000 units (down 6 percent).

Source: billboard.com