Migos’ ‘Culture II’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Set scores biggest streaming week for an album since April 2017.

Rap trio Migos scores its second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as Culture II opens atop the tally. The set — which was released on Jan. 26 through Quality Control/Motown/Capitol Records — earned 199,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Feb. 2, according to Nielsen Music.

Migos’ last album, Culture, launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Feb. 18, 2017.

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 Feb. 10-dated chart (where Culture II starts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Tuesday (Feb. 6).

With Culture II’s arrival at No. 1, Migos is now just the fifth rap group with more than one No. 1 album. The act follows Beastie Boys (four No. 1s between 1987 and 2004), A Tribe Called Quest (two, in 1996 and 2016), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (two, in 1995 and 1997) and D12 (two, in 2001 and 2004).

Culture II launches with 199,000 equivalent album units — mostly driven by streams. Of its debut unit sum, 38,000 were in traditional album sales, 11,000 were TEA units, and a whopping 150,000 were in SEA units (equating to 225.6 million on-demand audio streams of the album’s songs during the tracking week). Enhanced by a sizable 24-song tracklist, Culture II captures the largest streaming week for an album since Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated May 6 with 227,000 SEA units (of its total 603,000 equivalent album units) earned in the week ending April 20, 2017. (DAMN.’s 227,000 SEA units equaled 340.6 million streams.)

Comparably, Migos’ prior album, Culture, launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 131,000 units. Of the 13-song album’s starting sum, 44,000 were in traditional album sales; 10,000 were in TEA units and 77,000 were in SEA units. The latter figure translated into 115.6 million on-demand audio streams of the album’s songs in its first week.

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman holds in the runner-up slot for a third straight week (95,000 units; down 13 percent). The set previously logged two weeks at No. 1. With a fifth total week in the top two of the chart, The Greatest Showman has spent more time in the top two than any other soundtrack since Frozen logged 21 nonconsecutive weeks in the region in 2014 (including 13 weeks at No. 1).

British dance trio Above & Beyond debuts at a career-high No. 3 with Common Ground, the act’s fourth studio album. The set — which is the act’s first top 10 effort — starts with 64,000 units (another career best), largely driven by traditional album sales (62,000; their largest sales week ever). The album’s sales were powered by a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption promotion in association with the act’s 2017-2018 U.S. tour. The trek launched on Dec. 29, but tickets went on sale last September.

Common Ground is the highest-charting dance/electronic album since the Sept. 30, 2017-dated list, when ODESZA’s A Moment Apart debuted and peaked at No. 3 (63,000 units in its opening frame; of which 52,000 were in traditional album sales). Common Ground also logs the biggest week for a dance/electronic set, both in terms of overall units and album sales, since The Chainsmokers debuted at No. 1 with Memories… Do Not Open on the April 29, 2017-dated tally (221,000 units; 166,000 in album sales).

Like Common Ground, both A Moment Apart and Memories… Do Not Open saw their debut frames bolstered by sales generated from ticket/album bundle redemption offers.

Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic album climbs 10-4 on the new Billboard 200, earning 49,000 units (up 89 percent) in the wake of Mars’ six Grammy Award wins on Jan. 28, including album of the year. Mars performed on the live CBS-TV broadcast and accepted three of his six awards during the show (album, record and song of the year). His other three wins were announced before the televised ceremony.

24K Magic gains in traditional album sales (22,000; up 306 percent), TEA units (9,000; up 77 percent) and SEA units (18,000; up 18 percent).

Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) slips 3-5 with 48,000 units (though it gains 3 percent) and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. is steady at No. 6 with 38,000 units (up 31 percent). Sheeran won two Grammy Awards (including the televised best pop solo performance category, for “Shape of You”) but was not present at the ceremony. Lamar won five Grammy Awards, two of which were televised: best rap/sung performance and best rap album. He also opened the show with a medley performance that included DAMN. tracks “XXX.” and “DNA.”

Camila Cabello’s Camila drops 4-7 with 37,000 units (down 15 percent), while Post Malone’s Stoney falls 5-8 with 34,000 units (down 1 percent).

Khalid, who performed on the Grammy Awards and was nominated for five trophies (but did not win), rises 15-9 with American Teen (27,000 units; up 12 percent). Imagine Dragons’ Evolve closes out the top 10, stepping 13-10 with 26,000 units (up 7 percent).

Source: billboard.com