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Big Sean Wins Album Sales Race with 139K; Kid Rock Follows (Updated)

Update: It is official: Big Sean’s “Dark Sky Paradise” ranks as this past week’s #1 album.

The rapper’s latest release tops the weekly Billboard Top Album Sales chart thanks to its opening week total of 139,000 copies. Kid Rock’s “First Kiss,” which put up a strong but ultimately unsuccessful fight for the top spot, follows at #2 with 137,000 weekly sales.

“Dark Sky Paradise” claims a considerably larger victory in the total consumption unit battle. That race, which combines the aforementioned sales data with track equivalent albums (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and streaming equivalent albums (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) and informs the Billboard 200 chart, falls decisively in favor of Big Sean’s album. “Dark Sky Paradise” claimed a weekly unit total of 173,000, while Kid Rock’s album settled for 146,000.

“Dark Sky Paradise” represents Big Sean’s first career Billboard 200 #1.

This week’s Billboard 200 Top 10:
1 – Big Sean – Dark Sky Paradise – 173K total units (139K from pure sales)
2 – Kid Rock – First Kiss – 146K total units (137K from pure sales)
3 – 50 Shades of Grey – 108K total units (68K from pure sales)
4 – Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – 99K total units (59K from pure sales)
5 – Taylor Swift – 1989 – 78K total units
6 – Ed Sheeran – x – 73K total units
7 – Chris Brown & Tyga – Fan of a Fan: The Album – 67K total units
8 – Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour – 60K total units
9 – Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors – 55K total units
10 – Maroon 5 – V – 49K total units

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While the sales data shared by Hits Daily Double routinely differs slightly from the authoritative numbers reported by Billboard/Soundscan, it usually provides a reasonable portrait of the album sales hierarchy.

After all, insofar as there is usually a clear weekly winner, a slight margin of error will not impact the matter of which album ranked as the week’s best seller.

This week’s race does not adhere to that pattern. The final Billboard data will be required to officially declare a winner.

As far as the Hits chart goes, Big Sean’s “Dark Sky Paradise” won the weekly race. It claimed an approximate opening week sales total of 135,577, while Kid Rock’s “First Kiss” moved ~134,575 copies.

A Hits-Billboard disparity in excess of 1,002 copies is not, however, uncommon. As a result, the marketplace cannot confidently assume the Big Sean album will also reign over the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.

One can make that assertion regarding the revamped Billboard 200, which measures total consumption.

With track equivalent album (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and streaming equivalent album (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) included, Big Sean’s album claims a first-week consumption unit total of ~167,742. Kid rock’s album earns only 138,988 on that metric.

Other top performers from a pure sales standpoint include the “50 Shades of Grey” soundtrack (~66,424), Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” (~57,726), Chris Brown & Tyga’s “Fan of a Fan: The Album” (~52,528), Taylor Swift’s “1989” (~47,381), Imagine Dragons’ “Smoke + Mirrors” (~43,013), Ed Sheeran’s “x” (~40,203), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~38,842) and Red’s “Of Beauty and Rage” (~34,902).

Other top performers from a consumption standpoint include “50 Shades of Grey” (~107,277), Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” (~106,739), Taylor Swift’s “1989” (~78,756), Ed Sheeran’s “x” (~70,062), Chris Brown & Tyga’s “Fan of a Fan: The Album” (~67,707), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~59,519), Imagine Dragons’ “Smoke + Mirrors” (~56,391) and Maroon 5’s “V” (~47,656).

Written by Brian Cantor

Brian Cantor is the editor-in-chief for Headline Planet. He has been a leading reporter in the music, movie, television and sporting spaces since 2002.

Brian's reporting has been cited by major websites like BuzzFeed, Billboard, the New Yorker and The Fader -- and shared by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj.

Contact Brian at brian.cantor[at]headlineplanet.com.

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