Paul Simon [Myrna Suarez | Concord Music Press Photo]
Making good on early projections, Paul Simon’s “Stranger To Stranger” won the June 3-9 US album sales race and accordingly claims #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.
Drake’s “Views,” however, extends its reign atop the Billboard 200.
According to Billboard, “Stranger To Stranger” sold 67K pure US copies during the official tracking period. The count easily ranks as the week’s best pure sales total.
The album did not, however, receive a huge spike from Track Equivalent Albums (track sales/10) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (track streams/1500). Billboard notes that TEA and SEA added only about 1,000 extra units, resulting in a weekly consumption total of 68K units. That positions “Stranger” at #3 on the Billboard 200.
With a weekly unit total of 135K, Drake’s “Views” claims #1 on the BB200 for a sixth consecutive week. Not since 50 Cent’s 2005 “The Massacre” has an album by a male artist led for six straight weeks. Not since Eminem’s 2010 “Recovery” has an album by a male artist led for more than six total weeks.
Beyonce’s “Lemonade” is #2 with 69K units.
Volbeat’s “Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie” (51K units) and Maren Morris’ “Hero” (45K units) complete the Top 5 of this week’s Billboard 200.