Rod Wave Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart with ‘SoulFly’

Plus: NF, Carrie Underwood, Young Dolph & Key Glock and AJR debut in top 10.

Rod Wave earns his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as SoulFly opens with 130,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 1, according to MRC Data. With the arrival, SoulFly also notches the biggest week for an R&B/hip-hop album in 2021 in terms of units earned.

Also debuting in the top 10: NF’s Clouds (The Mixtape), Carrie Underwood’s My Savior, Young Dolph and Key Glock’s Dum and Dummer 2 and AJR’s OK Orchestra.

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). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 10, 2021-dated chart (where SoulFly bows at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 6. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of SoulFly’s 130,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending April 1, SEA units comprise 126,000 (equaling 189.2 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs — the largest streaming week of 2021 for an R&B/hip-hop set), album sales comprise 4,000 and TEA units comprise less than 1,000. SoulFly logs the biggest week for an R&B/hip-hop set released in 2021 in terms of units earned, surpassing the 88,000-unit launch of The Weeknd’s The Highlights (Feb. 20-dated chart).

In total, SoulFly is the rapper’s third charting album, and all three have reached the top 10, each peaking higher than the last. Ghetto Gospel topped out at No. 10 (Nov. 23, 2019-dated chart) and Pray 4 Love debuted and peaked at No. 2 (April 18, 2020).

The 19-track SoulFly album also handily outpaces the opening week of 14-track Pray 4 Love, which launched with 72,000 units.

SoulFly is just the second R&B/hip-hop album to hit No. 1 the last five months. The last R&B/hip-hop effort to lead the tally was Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red, which spent one week at No. 1 on the Jan. 9 chart. Before that, the last R&B/hip-hop leader was Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, which spent its second of two nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Oct. 24, 2020-dated chart.

SoulFly was previewed by the tracks “Street Runner” and “Tombstone,” which both debuted in the top 40 of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The former also launched in the top 40 of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 tally, giving Wave his third top 40-charting hit on the list.

Justin Bieber’s Justice falls to No. 2 in its second week on the Billboard 200, earning 100,000 equivalent album units (down 35%). Justice’s second-week decline was eased by the release of a deluxe edition of the album on March 26, dubbed the Triple Chucks Deluxe, which added six bonus tracks to the album’s original 16 tracks.

NF’s Clouds (The Mixtape) starts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 86,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that figure, 58,000 comprise album sales, 27,000 comprise SEA units (equaling 40.51 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and less than 1,000 comprise TEA units. It’s the rapper’s third top 10 effort and fifth charting album overall. He previously hit the list with The Search (No. 1 in 2019), Perception (No. 1, 2017), Therapy Session (No. 12, 2016) and Mansion (No. 62, 2015).

Carrie Underwood’s My Savior debuts at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, marking her ninth consecutive top five-charting album – the entirety of her charting efforts. The set starts with 73,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 68,000 comprise album sales (making it the top-selling album of the week), 4,000 comprise SEA units (equaling 5.32 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and 1,000 comprise TEA units.

My Savior features Underwood covering traditional hymns such as “Amazing Grace,” “How Great Thou Art” and “The Old Rugged Cross.” The set was ushered in with a performance by Underwood on NBC’s Today on March 26. My Savior’s second-week on the chart will be supported by an Easter Sunday (April 4) virtual live concert performance by Underwood at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, streamed from the star’s Facebook page.

Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1, Dangerous: The Double Album, falls 3-5 with 63,000 equivalent album units earned (down 5%). The set spent its first 10 weeks at No. 1 before dropping to No. 3 a week ago.

The Weeknd’s hits compilation The Highlights moves 15-6 with 45,000 equivalent album units earned (up 89%). Highlights includes “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears” – both of which are also on his last studio album, 2020’s After Hours. On the new chart, the TEA and SEA units for both songs contribute to The Highlights, as a song’s activity is assigned to the artist’s album with the most sales in a week. (The Highlights sold a little over 2,000 copies in the latest tracking week, while After Hours sold under 2,000.) A week ago, the TEA and SEA for both songs were directed to After Hours (which in that frame outsold The Highlights).

Pop Smoke’s former No. 1 Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon dips 4-7 with 38,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%).

The teaming of rappers Young Dolph and Key Glock continues to be prosperous, as the pair score its second top 10 album together with the No. 8 arrival of Dum and Dummer 2. The twosome previously hit the top 10 with Dum and Dummer, debuting and peaking at No. 8 in 2019.

Dum and Dummer 2 bows with nearly 36,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 31,000 comprise SEA units (equaling 42.73 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs), 4,000 comprise album sales and less than 1,000 comprise TEA units.

Dum and Dummer 2 is Young Dolph’s third top 10, following Dum and Dummer and a solo project Rich Slave (No. 4 in 2020), and the second top 10 for Key Glock.

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia slips 5-9 on the Billboard 200 with 35,500 equivalent album units earned (down 1%).

AJR closes out the top 10 as the trio’s new album OK Orchestra debuts at No. 10 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the second top 10 for the band, which previously hit the region with its last release, 2019’s Neotheater (No. 9 on the May 11, 2019, chart). The new album was led by the group’s first top 10 hit song on the Hot 100, “Bang!,” which peaked at No. 8 in January.

Of OK Orchestra’s launch of 32,000 units, 18,000 comprise SEA units (equaling 26.17 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs), 13,000 comprise album sales and less than 1,000 comprise TEA units.

Source: billboard.com