Update: Billboard has made the news official: Solange’s “A Seat At The Table” debuts atop this week’s Billboard 200.
The album takes #1 thanks to what Billboard reports as 72K in opening week consumption units. Roughly 46K of those units were derived from pure album sales, with the remainder credited to TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500).
In topping the Billboard 200, “A Seat At The Table” becomes Solange’s first #1 album.
It also makes Solange and Beyonce the first pair of sisters (and second pair of siblings) to top the Billboard 200 with solo albums in the same calendar year. Beyonce reached #1 earlier this year with “Lemonade.”
Credited with 71K units units, Bon Iver’s “22, A Million” takes #2 on the Billboard 200. It meanwhile debuts at #1 on Top Album Sales thanks to 58K in pure sales.
Drake’s “Views” (47K units, #3), “Suicide Squad: The Album” (38K units, #4) and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “The Getaway” (33K, #5) complete the Top 5 of the Billboard 200.
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When the week began, data suggested Solange’s “A Seat At The Table” would challenge Drake’s “Views” for #2 on the Billboard 200.
By mid-week, the projection had been upgraded. It appeared Solange’s album would battle Bon Iver’s “22, A Million” for #1 on the Billboard 200.
The week has concluded, and it now appears “A Seat At The Table” succeeded in that close battle. It will reportedly debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.
According to Hits Daily Double, “A Seat At The Table” generated approximately 72,415 US consumption units during the September 30-October 6 tracking week. The consumption total is the sum of pure album sales, TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500).
The count narrowly tops the 68,521 unit total credited to “22, A Million.” Hits thus has “A Seat At The Table” at #1 and “22, A Million” at #2 on its consumption chart.
It is important to note that Billboard’s more authoritative data often differs slightly from that reported by Hits. Since the 3,894 margin of victory falls within the conceivable margin of error, one should not yet celebrate.
“A Seat At The Table” does appear very likely to claim #1 on this week’s Billboard 200.
In doing so, it would become Solange’s first #1 album. In the event that it actually ends up at #2 on the Billboard 200, it would still represent her highest charting effort. “Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams,” which previously held the distinction, peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200.
“A Seat At The Table” will, meanwhile, debut at #2 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. Hits says approximately 46,197 of this week’s units came from pure sales. The Bon Iver album posted an opening week pure sales total of ~56,746.
