Update: An opening week sales total of 88,000 powers Wale’s “The Album About Nothing” to #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.
Though down markedly from the 158,000 first week copies shifted by predecessor “The Gifted,” the total provides “Nothing” with solid separation from the rest of the pack.
With Track Equivalent Album (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and Streaming Equivalent Album (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) data included, the album’s first week consumption total clocks in at 100,000 units. That earns Wale’s “The Album About Nothing” the #1 spot on the revamped Billboard 200.
This week’s BB200 Top Ten (based on total consumption units – pure sales data specified where available):
1) Wale – The Album About Nothing – 100K units (88K from pure sales)
2) Furious 7 Soundtrack – 74K units (33K from pure sales)
3) Ludacris – Ludaversal – 73K units
4) Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly – 65K units
5) Taylor Swift – 1989 – 59K units
6) Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour – 59K units
7) Darius Rucker – Southern Style – 57K units
8) Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi – 56K units
9) 50 Shades of Grey Soundtrack – 54K units
10) Sufjan Steves – Carrie and Lowell – 53K units
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For the third consecutive week, a hip-hop release tops the weekly album sales chart.
That album is not, however, Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
Ending the Kendrick album’s two-week streak, Wale’s “The Album About Nothing” convincingly wins the weekly sales race. Hits Daily Double’s data, from which the more authoritative Billboard data will differ only slightly, says the album moved ~90,381 traditional copies in its first week of release.
Down markedly from the 158,000 first week copies moved by Wale’s previous album “The Gifted,” the total nonetheless stands as this week’s clear best.
Credited with a weekly sales total of ~52,366, “Butterfly” actually slips to third this week. Ludacris’ new “Ludaversal” grabs the #2 slot on the strength of its ~58,830.
Other top performers in the pure sales race include Darius Rucker’s new “Southern Style” (~50,630), Death Cab for Cutie’s “Kintsugi” (~44,876), “Kidz Bop 28” (~41,780), Taylor Swift’s “1989” (~39,038), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~37,434), the “Furious 7” soundtrack (~36,093), Sufjan Stevens’ “Carrie and Lowell” (~34,464), Three Days Grace’s “Human” (~33,955), the “Empire” soundtrack (~31,543) and Hollywood Undead’s “Day of the Dead” (~29,787).
— Not simply poised to win the pure sales race, “The Album About Nothing” will also claim the top spot on the revamped, consumption-oriented Billboard 200. With Track Equivalent Albums (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) included, Hits says “Nothing” registered a first week consumption total of 98,264 units.
Other top consumption chart performers include Ludacris’ “Ludaversal” (~67,283 total units), “Furious 7” (~65,609), Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” (~63,251), Taylor Swift’s “1989” (~61,029), “50 Shades of Grey” (~54,187), Maroon 5’s “V” (~53,948), Darius Rucker’s “Southern Style” (~53,887), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~53,120), Ed Sheeran’s “x” (~47,943), Death Cab for Cutie’s “Kintsugi” (~46,840), “Kidz Bop 28” (~42,954) and Meghan Trainor’s “Title” (~42,488).
