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‘Slime Language 2’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
Plus: Eric Church and Greta Van Fleet bow in the top 10.
The star-studded Slime Language 2 project from Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life Records debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, earning 113,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 22, according to MRC Data. The vast majority of that sum was driven by streaming activity.
Slime Language 2 was released on April 16 via Young Stoner Life/300. It’s the third No. 1 for the Young Stoner Life label, following Gunna’s Wunna in 2020 and label chief Young Thug’s So Much Fun in 2019.
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 May 1, 2021-dated chart (where Slime Language 2 debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 27. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.ARTISTS MENTIONED
Of Slime Language 2’s 113,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending April 22, SEA units comprise 106,000 (equaling 142.68 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks), album sales comprise 6,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000.
The 23-track Slime Language 2 project showcases Young Stoner Life’s family of artists such as Gunna, Yak Gotti, Lil Duke, T-Shyne and Lil Keed, as well as acts from outside the Young Stoner Life camp, including Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Big Sean, NAV and Future. Young Thug himself performs on more than half of the album (13 of the 23 tracks), and, in turn, the set is billed on the chart to Young Thug & Various Artists. Slime Language 2 marks Young Thug’s second No. 1 album, following So Much Fun.
Slime Language 2 is the second R&B/hip-hop album released in 2021 to lead the Billboard 200, following Rod Wave’s SoulFly (April 10-dated chart).
Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) falls 1-2 in its second week on the Billboard 200 with 57,000 equivalent album units earned (down 80%). The album debuted with 2021’s biggest week yet, 291,000 units earned.
Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 Dangerous: The Double Album rises one spot to No. 3 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%), and Justin Bieber’s previous leader Justice dips 3-4 in its fifth week with 54,000 units (down 10%).
Eric Church’s Heart debuts at No. 5 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned, marking his sixth top 10 (and sixth top five). Of Heart’s starting sum, 40,000 comprise album sales (making it the top-selling album of the week), 8,000 comprise SEA units (equaling 10.54 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and 1,000 comprise TEA units.Heart was released on April 16 and is one of three new albums from Church, collectively referred to as Heart & Soul. The & album is available only to members of the artist’s Church Choir fan club, and Soul was released on April 23.
With Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Dangerous: The Double Album and Heart at Nos. 2, 3 and 5, it’s the first time three country albums are in the top five together in over five years. It last happened on the Nov. 28, 2015-dated chart, when Chris Stapleton’s Traveller was at No. 1, followed by Church’s Mr. Misunderstood at No. 2 and Tim McGraw’s Damn Country Music at No. 5. That week, the chart was still basking in the glow of that year’s Country Music Association Awards (held on Nov. 4), where Stapleton and Church both performed. (Country albums are defined as those that have charted on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)
Rod Wave’s former No. 1 SoulFly falls 5-6 on the new Billboard 200 with 46,000 equivalent album units earned (down 16%).
Rock band Greta Van Fleet scores its second Billboard 200 top 10, as The Battle at Garden’s Gate debuts at No. 7 with 44,000 equivalent album units earned. Of Battle’s starting sum, 39,000 comprise album sales, 5,000 comprise SEA units (equaling 6.28 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and less than 1,000 comprise TEA units.
The new album was preceded by the single “My Way, Soon,” which marked the group’s fifth No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart (dated Jan. 30). A second track, “Heat Above,” climbed 15-14 (a new peak) on the most recently published chart (dated April 24).
The Weeknd’s The Highlights falls 7-8 on the Billboard 200 with 40,000 equivalent album units earned (down 2%), Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia rises 10-9 with 35,000 units (up 6%) and Pop Smoke’s former leader Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon dips 9-10 with 34,000 units (down 5%).
Source: billboard.com