We’ve seen the future of who’s rising up the list of artists vying to have the most number one albums in history, and his name is Future. The rapper debuted atop the Billboard 200 with “The Real Me,” earning his twelfth No. 1 on the chart. That means he now sits in fifth place, alone,
We’ve seen the future of who’s rising up the list of artists vying to have the most number one albums in history, and his name is Future. The rapper debuted atop the Billboard 200 with “The Real Me,” earning his twelfth No. 1 on the chart. That means he now sits in fifth place, alone, in the ranking of artists who top the album charts of all time.
“The Real Me” debuted with 131,000 equivalent album units to easily rank ahead of Olivia Rodrigo’s “You Look Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” which sold another 96,000 units to remain at No. 2 in its fifth week on the chart.
Previously, on the list of artists with the most number one albums, Future had been tied with Eminem, with 11. With this number one number 12, he leaves Eminem behind to take fifth place alone. The four artists preceding him on that esteemed list are the Beatles (with 19 number one hits), Drake and Taylor Swift (tied for second place with 15 each), and Jay-Z (with 14).
Two albums besides Future’s debuted in the top 10. The Rolling Stones’ “Foreign Tongues” ranked at No. 7 with 53,000 equivalent album units. That’s about on par with a recent album by Stones contemporary Paul McCartney, which debuted to 63,000 viewers in June.
The rest of the top 10 was the soundtrack to television’s “Heated Rivalry,” which debuted at No. 9 with 41,000 units. Billboard reported that this was the first time a television soundtrack cracked the top 10 in more than a decade — specifically, since the “Empire” soundtrack did so in 2015. (Another television soundtrack, “Hazbin Hotel,” the companion album to an animated show, reached the top 10 last year, but only after debuting at No. 70.)
Future’s numbers for “The Real Me,” broken down, show that streaming numbers far outpace sales, which is typical for hip-hop. The album sold only 13,000 copies, but had 120.29 million on-demand streams, which translated into 118,000 SEA units.
Of course, the Stones’ numbers skewed the other way, with 48,500 albums sold, augmented by 4.48 million on-demand streams, equivalent to 4,000 SEA units.
Curiously, the numbers for “Heated Rivalry” came down entirely to sales, with 41,000 copies sold on CD and vinyl and 41,000 units in total. That’s because the sheet music album already came out digitally in January, but never racked up enough streaming-only units to impact the chart before the physical release in July.
Looking at the top 10, one big name is MIA: Madonna’s “Confessions II” has dropped out, after debuting last week at No. 1. Its position on the chart in Week 2 is not yet known, as Luminate and Billboard only release the Top 10 Albums chart on Sunday, so news on where exactly “Confessions II” entered its second session will have to wait until Monday.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 are Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” at No. 3, Ella Langley at No. 4, Noah Kahan at No. 5, Drake at No. 6, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” at No. 8 and Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” at No. 10.
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