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DaBaby Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart with ‘Kirk’
Plus: The Beatles’ former No. 1 “Abbey Road” returns to the top three, Kevin Gates and Whiskey Myers debut in top 10.
DaBaby scores his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as Kirk opens in the top slot.
The set, which is the hip-hop artist’s second studio effort, starts with 145,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 3, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, just 8,000 were in album sales, as the set was powered largely by streaming activity. Kirk was released on Sept. 27 via SouthCoast/Interscope Records.
Elsewhere in the top 10, The Beatles’ former No. 1 Abbey Road returns to the top five after its 50th anniversary reissue, Kevin Gates’ I’m Him debuts and Whiskey Myers lands its first top 10.
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 Oct. 12-dated chart (where Kirk debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Oct. 8.
Kirk, which is DaBaby’s actual last name (real name: Jonathan Kirk), follows his first studio release, Baby on Baby, which peaked at No. 7 on the June 1-dated list. The latter boasts DaBaby’s breakthrough single “Suge,” which marked his first top 10 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (reaching No. 7 on July 6). Through the week ending Oct. 2, Baby on Baby has earned 719,000 equivalent album units, and collected over 1 billion on-demand audio streams for its songs.
As noted above, Kirk starts with 145,000 equivalent album units, of which 8,000 were in album sales, 2,000 in TEA units and 136,000 in SEA units. The latter sum equates to 181.7 million on-demand audio streams for the set’s 13 songs during its first week — the fifth-largest debut streaming week for an album in 2019.
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding shifts down one slot after spending its first three weeks at No. 1. The album tallied 124,000 equivalent album units in the new tracking week, down 17%.
The Beatles’ former No. 1 album Abbey Road zooms back into the top 10 for the first time since 1970, as the set vaults from No. 71 to No. 3 after the album was reissued on Sept. 27 to commemorate its 50th anniversary. It earned 81,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Oct. 3 (up 803%) with 70,000 of that sum in album sales (up 3,091%).
Abbey Road was released on Sept. 26, 1969, and spent 11 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in late 1969 and early 1970. It first reached the top of the list dated Nov. 1, 1969, and it spent its final week at No. 1 on Jan. 24, 1970.
The album continued to chart consistently through May of 1971, returned for a spell in 1976, and then racked up numerous weeks on the chart between 1981 and 1988. Then, from 1991 through 2009, catalog (older) albums like Abbey Road were generally ineligible to chart on the list, so Abbey Road was absent from the chart during that time. But in late 2009, after the catalog restriction was lifted, Abbey Road returned to the chart and has racked up 200 weeks on the tally since.
With Abbey Road’s rise to No. 3 on the new chart, the album nets its first week in the top 10 since April 25, 1970 (when it ranked at No. 9) and its highest placing since March 14, 1970 (No. 3).
Abbey Road boasts familiar favorite songs like “Come Together,” “Something” (which together topped the Hot 100 chart as a double-sided single), “Octopus’s Garden,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.”
The album was freshly mixed and reissued on Sept. 27 in a variety of formats, many coming with an array of previously unreleased recordings and demo tracks.
Abbey Road is the latest in a series of 50th anniversary reissues from The Beatles, following the act’s self-titled set (often referred to as The White Album) in 2018 and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2017. The White Album re-entered at No. 6 on the Nov. 24, 2018, chart following its reissue, and Sgt. Pepper’s re-entered the chart at No. 3 on the June 17, 2017-dated list after its re-release.
Back on the new Billboard 200, Kevin Gates collects his fourth top 10 album, as I’m Him bows at No. 4 with 70,000 equivalent album units earned (with 10,000 of that sum in album sales). He previously visited the top 10 with Luca Brasi 3 (No. 4 in 2018), By Any Means 2 (No. 4, 2017) and Islah (No. 2, 2016).
Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Lover falls one rung to No. 5 with 57,000 equivalent album units (down 13%).
Country-rock band Whiskey Myers captures its first top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as the group’s self-titled effort starts at No. 6 with 42,000 equivalent album units earned (of which 39,000 were in album sales). Sales of the new album were boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with the band’s tour in 2019.
The debut of the new album follows the Texas act’s first big national attention back in 2018, when it was seen performing the song “Stone” in an episode of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner. During the release week of the new album, Whiskey Myers landed its first live performance on national television, performing “Rolling Stone” on NBC’s Today on Oct. 1.
Whiskey Myers also scored its first chart hit on a Billboard airplay chart recently, as the new album’s “Gasoline” premiered at No. 37 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart dated Oct. 5.
The band previously visited the chart with its last three albums: Mud (No. 80 in 2016), Early Morning Shakes (No. 54, 2014) and Firewater (No. 198, 2011).
On the new Billboard 200, Billie Eilish’s former No. 1 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? climbs 8-7 with 39,000 equivalent album units (up 20%). The set gains in the wake of Eilish’s performances on NBC’s Saturday Night Live on Sept. 29.
Rounding out the rest of the new top 10: Young Thug’s former leader So Much Fun dips 5-8 with nearly 39,000 equivalent album units earned (down 13%), Lizzo’s Cuz I Love You is steady at No. 9 with 37,000 units (though up 13%) and Lil Tecca’s We Love You Tecca falls 6-10 with 35,000 units (down 10%).
Source: billboard.com