Update: Billboard has made the news official: Queens Of The Stone Age’s “Villains” debuts at #1 on the Top Album Sales chart, while Lil Uzi Vert’s “Luv Is Rage 2” takes #1 on the Billboard 200.
“Villains” tops the former thanks to what Billboard reports as 69K in pure US sales.
With TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) included, “Villains” generated 73K in total US consumption units. That is enough for #3 on the Billboard 200.
“Luv Is Rage 2” tops that chart with 135K units (28K of which came from sales).
XXXTentacion’s “17” takes #2 on the Billboard 200 with 87K units, while Fifth Harmony’s “Fifth Harmony” earns #4 on the strength of 46K.
Credited with 45K units, Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” slips two spots to #5.
====
This week’s US album race produces a split-chart scenario.
Queens Of The Stone Age’s “Villains” decisively wins for pure US sales, while Lil Uzi Vert’s “Luv Is Rage 2” convincingly wins for total US units.
According to Hits Daily Double and BuzzAngle, “Villains” sold ~68,623 pure US copies during the August 25-31 tracking week. The tally more than doubles that of the week’s second-best-seller.
“Luv Is Rage 2” only sold ~28,393 pure albums, but it received far bigger lifts from TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500). With those elements added to the pure sales total, “Luv Is Rage 2” debuted with ~125,687 total US consumption units.
A comparative non-factor for TEA and SEA, “Villains” generated ~72,768 in total US units. In addition to the Lil Uzi Vert album, it also trails XXXTentacion’s “17” (~85,739) for total consumption.
Due later this weekend, Billboard’s more authoritative data may differ slightly from that reported by Hits and BuzzAngle. The discrepancies will not, however, be enough to affect the key takeaways. “Villains” will debut at #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, while “Luv Is Rage 2” will earn #1 on the Billboard 200.
This week’s pure sales leaders (via Hits/BuzzAngle):
1) Queens Of The Stone Age – Villains (~68,623 pure US sales)
2) Fifth Harmony – Fifth Harmony (~33,142 pure US sales)
3) Old Dominion – Happy Endings (~31,848 pure US sales)
4) Lil Uzi Vert – Luv Is Rage 2 (~28,393 pure US sales)
5) The War On Drugs – A Deeper Understanding (~23,429 pure US sales)
This week’s total consumption leaders (via Hits/BuzzAngle)
1) Lil Uzi Vert – Luv Is Rage 2 (~125,687 total US units)
2) XXXTentacion – 17 (~85,739 total US units)
3) Queens Of The Stone Age – Villains (~72,768 total US units)
4) Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. (~51,483 total US units)
5) Fifth Harmony – Fifth Harmony (~45,937 total US units)
