Slipknot Ties Up Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With ‘We Are Not Your Kind’
Plus: Rick Ross and Trippie Redd debut at Nos. 2 and 3.
Slipknot scores its third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as the rock band’s We Are Not Your Kind bows in the top slot. The album earned 118,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Aug. 15, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 102,000 were in album sales.
We Are Not Your Kind was released on Aug. 9 via Roadrunner Records, and is the group’s first studio album since 2014’s .5: The Gray Chapter.
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. 24-dated chart, where We Are Not Your Kind enters at No. 1, will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Aug. 20.
We Are Not Your Kind is the first hard rock album to lead the Billboard 200 since Foo Fighters’ Concrete and Gold entered at No. 1 with 127,000 units on the list dated Oct. 7, 2017. We Are Not Your Kind also tallies the largest week for a hard rock album, in terms of units earned, since Concrete.
We Are Not Your Kind’s big week was boosted by sales of the album generated from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with Slipknot’s tour, which started on July 26.
In total, We Are Not Your Kind is the band’s fifth top 10 effort on the Billboard 200. The act previously visited the region with .5: The Gray Chapter (No. 1, 2014), All Hope Is Gone (No. 1, 2008), Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (No. 2, 2004) and Iowa (No. 3, 2001).
The new album was led by the single “Unsainted,” which became the act’s seventh top 10 hit on the Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart (July 6-dated list). Back in June, the single peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Rock Songs chart, which blends airplay, streams and sales data to rank the week’s most popular rock tracks.
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Rick Ross logs his tenth top 10 album, as Port of Miami 2 sails in with 80,000 equivalent album units earned (with 25,000 of that sum in album sales). Port of Miami 2 is Ross’ highest-charting album in more than five years, since 2014’s Mastermind debuted at No. 1.
The bulk of Port of Miami 2’s first-week units were from streaming activity, as the set earned 53,000 SEA units (the most of any album on the chart). That figure translates into 67.5 million on-demand audio streams for the set’s tracks during the tracking week, making it the most-streamed album of the week.
Port of Miami 2 was released via Maybach/Epic Records.
Ross has been remarkably consistent on the Billboard 200 chart, as all 10 of his charting major label releases have reached the top 10 (with five of those hitting No. 1). His only charting album to miss the top 10 was the Rise to Power compilation, which was issued in 2007 on the indie Suave House II label and reached No. 62. The set contained earlier recordings from before Ross hit it big with his major label debut, 2006’s No. 1-charting Port of Miami, released via Slip-N-Slide and Def Jam Records.
Back on the new Billboard 200, the third and final debut in the top 10 is rapper Trippie Redd with !. The set, released via TenThousand Projects, starts with 51,000 equivalent album units earned (with 7,000 of that sum in album sales). The simply titled ! is the third top 10 effort for Trippie Redd, following A Love Letter To You 3(No. 3, 2018) and Life’s a Trip (No. 4, 2018).
Billie Eilish’s former No. 1 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? dips 3-4 on the new Billboard 200, earning 44,000 equivalent album units (down 6%). It is followed by two more previous leaders: Ed Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project (falling 2-5 with 43,000 units; down 11%) and Chris Brown’s Indigo (5-6 with 36,000 units; down 3%).
Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You climbs 8-7 with 33,000 equivalent album units (despite a 4% decline), while Drake’s Care Package falls 1-8 in its second week with 31,000 units (down 71%).
Rounding out the top 10: Khalid’s former No. 1 Free Spirit rises 13-9 (30,000 equivalent album units; down 5%) while Lil Nas X’s 7 ascends 11-10 (29,000 units; down 10%).
Source: billboard.com