This week we're seeing the the debut of recent records by Kid Cudi and Gucci Mane, landing at #11 and #16 respectively. Both artists have done a great job of ending a year of ups and downs on a high note, with a couple of solid releases. The Weeknd and J. Cole continue to dominate the charts, both staying in the top 5 with their recent full-lengths. The Hamilton Mixtape, VIEWS, Suicide Squad: The Album, and Post Malone's Stoney all come in the top 25, with Childish Gambino's newest LP coming in at #27. Elsewhere, The Lox debut Filthy America...It's Beautiful at #42.
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1) Bruno Mars — 24K Magic: Rebounding from the #4 spot last week, Bruno Mars is back up at #2 this week with 24K Magic, his newest album. The record moves 113,626 TAEU and 89,882 sales in this, its fifth week on the charts.
2) The Weeknd — Starboy: Abel Tesfaye remains in the same #3 spot we found him in last week, with Starboy. The pop sensation's third studio album debuted at #1, with each song off the album managing to chart on the Hot 100. This time around, The Weeknd claims 101,217 TAEU and 38,805 in pure sales.
3) J. Cole — 4 Your Eyez Only: Following a very strong debut at the #1 spot on the Billboard 200, J. Cole's 4 Your Eyez Only falls back slightly to #4. The album, which contains 10 songs and 0 features, clocks 89,737 TAEU and 46,605 sales this week.
4) Kid Cudi — Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’: Debuting at #11 is Kid Cudi, with his newest release Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'. Cudi has had a difficult year, even checking himself into rehab a few months back, but ends on strong note with his new album. The record debuts with 49,698 TAEU and 24,293 in physical sales.
5) Gucci Mane — The Return of East Atlanta Santa: Gucci Mane debuts his newest project, the third GuWop album post-prison, at #16. The Return of East Atlanta Santa is Gucci's tenth studio album, and just the cherry on top of the massive year he had following his release from jail. The album debuts with 37,717 TAEU and 15,118 sales. BURR!
6) Various Artists — The Hamilton Mixtape: With contributions from The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Alicia Keys, Usher, and more, The Hamilton Mixtape is stacked. Following in the footsteps of the Broadway spectacular, the album continues to have success on the Billboard charts, clocking 35,337 TAEU and 31,217 sales as it lands at #17 this week.
7) Drake – VIEWS: The album has lost a little bit of steam, but we're not worried about Drizzy. VIEWS continues to have a good bit of success even as 2016 comes to a close. The record spent most of the year in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, but this week, VIEWS makes what may be its lowest appearance yet, coming in at #19 (down from #17 last week). The album moved 33,723 TAEU and pushed 10,202 in physical copies.
8) Various Artists — Suicide Squad: The Album: The Suicide Squad soundtrack has contributions from Rick Ross, Wiz Khalifa, Eminem, and many more, which has helped it continue to thrive on the Billboard charts since its release 20 weeks ago. Last week it was at #25, and this week the original soundtrack climbs up to #21 with 33,443 TAEU and 20,902 units in pure sales.
9) Post Malone — Stoney: Despite getting pretty poor reviews, Post Malone's Stoney comes in at #23 after debuting at #6 last week. The album logs 30,080 TAEU and 4,302 sales this time around. Do you think the album and sales are living up to the hype that initially surrounded this young Texas rapper?
10) Childish Gambino — Awaken, My Love!: Childish went for a retro-soul meets Funkadelic vibe with his latest LP Awaken, My Love! and everyone seems to love it. The album debuted at #5 before dropping to #20 last week, and finds itself at #27 this week with 23,536 TAEU and 13,570 sales.
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Securing the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, is The Weeknd and Daft Punk's collaboration, "Starboy." "Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmurd is ousted in the process, falling back to #2. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's "Side To Side" comes in at #6, followed by DJ Snake's "Let Me Love You" featuring Justin Bieber (#7), Maroon 5's "Don't Wanna Know" with Kendrick Lamar (#8), Machine Gun Kelly's "Bad Things" (#9), and Drake's More Life single "Fake Love" (#10), making for a huge week for hip hop-related artists on the Hot 100. Migos and Lil Uzi Vert's "Bad and Bougee" jets up from #26 to #13 this week, making a huge jump and cutting its path to #1 in half. Young M.A.'s "OOOUUU" jumps all the way from #47 to #19, with Rihanna, Big Sean, and Sia with Kendrick Lamar all making pretty large strides directly following her.
The Weeknd and Daft Punk are also climbing the charts with their second Starboy collaboration, "I Feel It Coming," which has jumped from #33 to #25 this week.
