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Future Earns Fourth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart
Future scores his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as his new self-titled effort starts atop the list, earning 140,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Feb. 23, 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, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new March 11, 2017-dated chart (where Future debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Future’s latest No. 1 is also his fourth leader in a row, following Evol (2016), What a Time to Be Alive (with Drake) and DS2 (both in 2015). It’s likely that Future will notch another No. 1 in short order — as he released another album on Feb. 24: HNDRXX. Industry forecasters suggest the new set could also open atop the tally, bumping Future from the top slot, and giving the artist an unprecedented feat: back-to-back No. 1 debuts in successive weeks.
As for Future’s current No. 1, more than half of its units were powered by streaming activity: 73,000 units (equaling 109 million streams of the album’s songs during the tracking frame). The rest of its units were comprised of traditional album sales (60,000) and track equivalent album units (7,000).
Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic rests at its peak, No. 2, for a fourth nonconsecutive week (59,000 units; down 10 percent). The last album to spend as many weeks at No. 2, without reaching No. 1, was Andrea Bocelli’s My Christmas, which racked up five straight weeks in the runner-up slot in November and December of 2009.
The Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack drops two slots to No. 3 in its second week, with 53,000 units (down 57 percent). The Weeknd’s Starboy climbs one rung to No. 4 with a little more than 50,000 units (down 7 percent). Migos’ Culture slips a position to No. 5 with 50,000 units (down 15 percent). Big Sean’s I Decided. descends 3-6 with 49,000 units (down 21 percent).
The second-highest new entry on the chart belongs to R&B veteran Charlie Wilson, who nabs his fourth top 10 effort with In It to Win It, which debuts at No. 7 with 48,000 units (47,000 from traditional album sales). It’s the singer’s best sales week since 2010, when Just Charlie bowed at No. 19 with 57,000 copies sold. The new album was led by the single “I’m Blessed,” featuring T.I., which has become Wilson’s 10th top 10-charting tune on the Adult R&B Songs airplay chart.
Ryan Adams claims his fifth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with the bow of Prisoner at No. 8 (45,000 units; 42,000 in traditional album sales). Adams last visited the top 10 in 2015, with his interpretation of Taylor Swift’s 1989 album, also called 1989. Adams’ version debuted and peaked at No. 7.
Prisoner’s lead single, “Do You Still Love Me,” gave the singer/songwriter his ninth top 10 single on the Adult Alternative Songs airplay chart in January.
Alison Krauss’ new Windy City — her first solo album of new material since 1999’s Forget About It — debuts at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 with 38,000 units (36,000 in traditional album sales). In total, Windy City marks the country and bluegrass artist’s 10th charting effort: she’s charted four solo titles, a collaborative set with Robert Plant, and five with her band Union Station. Though Krauss has been releasing albums since 1985, she did not reach the all-genre Billboard 200 chart until 10 years later, when the retrospective Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection, entered the chart dated Feb. 25, 1995. (Her first album to visit the Top Country Albums chart was 1991’s I’ve Got That Old Feeling, which reached No. 61.)
On the Billboard 200, Krauss has now reached the top 10 four times — with Windy City, Paper Airplane, with Union Station (No. 3 in 2011), Raising Sand, with Robert Plant (No. 2; 2007) and the solo best-of package, A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection (No. 10; 2007).
Rounding out the new Billboard 200’s top 10 is the soundtrack to Trolls, which falls from No. 7 to No. 10 with 37,000 units (down 16 percent).
Source: billboard.com