Selena Gomez Earns Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart with ‘Rare’
Plus: Moneybagg Yo’s “Time Served” launches at No. 3.
Selena Gomez earns her third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as Rare launches atop the tally. The set, which was released Jan. 10 via Interscope Records, starts with 112,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 16, according to Nielsen Music.
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 comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Jan. 25-dated chart (where Rare bows at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Wednesday, Jan. 22 (one day later than usual, owed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday on Monday, Jan. 20).
In total, Rare’s start of 112,000 units was powered by nearly 56,000 in SEA units (equating to 79.3 million on-demand streams for album’s tracks), just under 53,000 in album sales, and a little over 3,000 in TEA units. (All numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.)
Notably, unlike many releases, Rare’s bow was not enhanced by album sales generated from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer. However, it did get an assist from sales of many merchandise/album bundles sold via Gomez’s official website, as well as a deluxe CD with bonus tracks available only at Target.
Rare is Gomez’s sixth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 in total — the entirety of her studio efforts (both as a proper solo artist, and those with former backing band The Scene). Here’s a rundown of Gomez’s top 10s: Rare (No. 1), Revival (in 2015, No. 1), Stars Dance (2013, No. 1); and then her three projects with The Scene, When the Sun Goes Down (2011, No. 3), A Year Without Rain (2010, No. 4) and Kiss and Tell (2009, No. 9). The only Gomez album to miss the top 10 is the greatest hits package For You, which peaked at No. 24 in 2014.
Rare was led by the songs “Lose You to Love Me” and “Look at Her Now.” The former became her first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, vaulting 15-1 on the list dated Nov. 9, 2019.
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial falls one rung with 110,000 equivalent album units earned — though the set is up by 14% for the week (compared to the 97,000 units it tallied in the previous week). The rapper’s album continues to profit from the huge streaming popularity of its song “The Box,” which jumped to No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart a week ago (dated Jan. 18).
Of Please Excuse Me’s total unit sum of 110,000 in the week ending Jan. 16, the vast majority was driven by streaming activity. 107,000 of its overall total are SEA units (up 13%), while just under 2,000 are TEA units (up 22%) and a little over 1,000 are album sales (up 30%). The album’s 107,000 SEA units sum equates to 163.04 million in on-demand streams for the set’s songs in the tracking week.
The second and final debut in the top 10 on the new Billboard 200 chart is Moneybagg Yo’s new Time Served, which starts at No. 3. The effort secures the rapper his highest charting album, as it enters with 66,000 equivalent album units earned, driven largely by streaming activity (59,000 SEA units, which translates to 84.1 million on-demand streams for the set’s songs during the week). Moneybagg Yo previous visited the top 10 with 43VA Heartless (No. 4 in 2019) and Federal 3x (No. 5 in 2017).
The rest of the new top 10 comprises former No. 1s. Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding dips 2-4 with 60,000 equivalent album units (down 8%), DaBaby’s Kirk rises 6-5 with 43,000 units (up 5%) and Harry Styles’ Fine Line falls 3-6 with 41,000 units (down 16%). Jackboys’ self-titled album descends 4-7 with 38,000 units (down 18%), the Frozen II soundtrack slips 5-8 with 35,000 units (down 15%), Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? moves 7-9 with 35,000 units (down 8%) and Young Thug’s So Much Fun dips 8-10 with 32,000 units (down 7%).
Source: billboard.com