Lil Baby Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart with ‘My Turn’

Plus: Bad Bunny, James Taylor, G Herbo and Five Finger Death Punch debut in top 10.

Lil Baby lands his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as My Turn debuts atop the tally with the biggest streaming week of 2020 for an album.

The set, which was released via Quality Control/Motown on Feb. 28, earned 197,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending March 5, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.

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 March 14-dated chart, where My Turn debuts at No. 1, will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 10.

My Turn is the rapper’s fifth charting album and fourth top 10. He previously visited the top tier with Street Gossip (No. 2, December 2018), Drip Harder with Gunna (No. 4, October 2018) and Harder Than Ever (No. 3, June 2018).

My Turn logs Lil Baby not only his first No. 1, but also his best week ever in terms of units earned. His previous high-water mark, in terms of units, came via Drip Harder, which launched with 130,000.

My Turn was powered overwhelmingly by streaming activity, as of the set’s total units earned, 184,000 are in SEA units (equating to 261.6 million on-demand streams for the album’s songs in its first week), making it the most-streamed album of the week. It also clears the largest streaming week for any album, even counting only audio streams, since Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding bowed at No. 1 with 365.3 million (Sept. 21, 2019-dated chart).

The album sold just under 10,000 copies, aided in part by more than a dozen merchandise/album bundles sold via the artist’s official website. The set also generated nearly 4,000 in TEA units. My Turn also marks the third No. 1 album for Quality Control, following Migos’ Culture II (2018) and Culture (2017).

Bad Bunny lands a historic debut on the new Billboard 200, as the Puerto Rican singer/rapper’s YHLQMDLG bows at No. 2 with 179,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 142,000 are in SEA units (which translates to 201.4 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs in its first week), 35,000 are in album sales (assisted by more than 25 merchandise/album bundles sold via the artist’s website) and a little more than 1,000 are in TEA units.

YHLQMDLG was released via Rimas late in the evening on Feb. 28 and is the second top 10 album for the artist. He previously reached No. 9 with Oasis (July 13, 2019), a collaborative set with J Balvin.

With YHLQMDLG’s arrival at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Bad Bunny achieves the highest-charting all-Spanish-language album ever on the chart. (YHLQMDLG is performed almost entirely in Spanish, save for a smattering of English words; Its title is short for “Yo hago lo que me de la gana,” which essentially translates to “I do whatever I want.”)

Prior to YHLQMDLG, the highest rank logged for an all-Spanish-language effort was No. 4 by Mana’s Amar es Combatir (Sept. 9, 2006) and Shakira’s Fijación Oral: Vol. 1 (June 25, 2005). An honorable mention goes to Ricky Martin’s Música + Alma + Sexo, which hit No. 3 on Feb. 19, 2011. The 13-track album contains 11 Spanish recordings and two English tracks.

The last mostly Spanish-language album to reach the top two on the Billboard 200 chart was Il Divo’s Ancora, which debuted at No. 1 on the Feb. 11, 2006-dated chart. Of Ancora’s 10 songs, seven were performed in Spanish. So far, only two mostly-Spanish albums have reached No. 1: Ancora and Selena’s Dreaming of You (Aug. 5, 1995). The latter 13-track album includes six tracks in Spanish, five in English, and two duets that blend English and Spanish.

Further, YHLQMDLG nets the biggest week ever, in terms of equivalent album units, for a Latin release since Billboard began tracking titles by units in December of 2014. It beats the previous high, notched by the debut of Santana’s mostly-Spanish language effort Africa Speaks (57,000 units; June 22, 2019-dated chart). YHLQMDLG also tallies the largest week, in equivalent album units, for an all-Spanish language effort, trumping the opening week of Ozuna’s Aura (49,000 units; Sept. 8, 2018).

And, with 201.4 million on-demand streams generated by the songs on YHLQMDLG, the set additionally earns the biggest streaming week ever for a Latin album — even counting just audio streams alone. It wildly surpasses the record set by Ozuna’s Aura, which bowed with 53.2 million clicks (chart dated Sept. 8, 2018). Bad Bunny has charted 14 songs on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart (through the March 7-dated tally), including two top 10s: the No. 1 smash “I Like It” with Cardi B and J Balvin, and “MIA,” a No. 5 hit featuring Drake (both in 2018). Neither song is on the new album.

Back on the new Billboard 200, BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7 falls from No. 1 to No. 3 in its second week, earning 84,000 equivalent album units (down 80% from its opening week of 422,000).

James Taylor’s American Standard starts at No. 4 with 82,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 81,000 is in album sales (boosted by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer), making it the top selling album of the week. The set was released via Fantasy Records/Concord.

The appropriately titled album, which boasts Taylor taking on standards from the American songbook, gives Taylor his 13th top 10 effort on the chart. It also gives Fantasy Records its highest charting album since 1970, when Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Cosmo’s Factory spent nine weeks at No. 1.

Meanwhile, with American Standard’s bow at No. 3, Taylor becomes the first act with top 10 albums in each of the last six decades: the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s and ‘20s.  He logged his first six top 10s in the 1970s with Sweet Baby James (peaking at No. 3 in 1970), Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (No. 2, 1971), One Man Band (No. 4, No. 1973), Gorilla (No. 6, 1975), JT (No. 4, 1977) and Flag (No. 10, 1979). In the ‘80s and ‘90s, he managed one top 10 in each decade with Dad Loves His Work (No. 10 in 1981) and Hourglass (No. 9 in 1997). In the ‘00s, he claimed two top 10s with October Road (No. 4 in 2002) and Covers (No. 4, 2008). And, in the ‘10s, he reached the region with Live at the Troubadour (a collaborative set with Carole King; No. 4, 2010) and his first No. 1 album, and most recent release before his latest, Before This World (2015).

There are only a handful of acts that could join Taylor in this elite club. Here are the artists that have achieved top 10s in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s and ‘10s: Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and Van Halen. Of the above, The Rolling Stones, Santana and Streisand have scored top 10s in the ‘1960s through 2010s.

Meanwhile, Jackson, who died in 2009, achieved his two top 10s in the 2010s via posthumous efforts.

A pair of former No. 1s trail Taylor on the new Billboard 200, as Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial is steady at No. 5 with 63,000 equivalent album units earned (down 2%), while Justin Bieber’s Changes falls from No. 4 to No. 6 with 62,000 units (down 6%).

Rapper G Herbo tallies his first top 10 album, as PTSD debuts at No. 7 with 59,000 equivalent album units earned (with 4,000 of that in album sales) powered by streaming activity. He’s visited the chart with four earlier albums, going as high as No. 15 in 2018 with Swervo, a collaborative effort with Southside.

Rock band Five Finger Death Punch captures its seventh top 10 album, as F8 debuts fittingly at No. 8. The set earned 55,000 equivalent album units in its first week, with 45,000 of that sum in album sales.

Closing out the new top 10: Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding falls from No. 7 to No. 9 with 50,000 equivalent album units (down less than 1%) and YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Still Flexin, Still Steppin descends from No. 2 to No. 10 with 44,000 units in its second week (down 51%).

Source: billboard.com