Just as predicted, 6LACK's sophomore East Atlanta Love Letter album has earned the rapper and singer a well-deserved spot in this week's top 5 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, earning him his highest-charting entry yet, selling 77,000 units with 20,000 being traditional album sales. Streaming had much to do with 6LACK's audience as he earned 56,000 streaming equivalent album units which translates to 72.7 million on-demand audio streams for the album's tracks in its first week.
At the tail end of 2016, 6LACK's debut FREE 6LACK bowed at No. 68 with just 10,000 units. It would eventually peak at No. 34 after the Atlanta native enjoyed a fruitful 2017, but it goes to show just how much of an impressive jump he's made since then. 6LACK only trails Eminem's Kamikaze which holds steady at No. 2 with 103,000 units while both men couldn't outperform country juggernaut Carrie Underwood who earned her fourth No. 1 album with Cry Pretty after pushing 266,000 equivalent album units with 251,000 of those being traditional sales. It marks the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2018, surpassing the previous record of 255,000 total debut units earned by Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy.
Following up after 6LACK is Drake's Scorpion, then Travis Scott's AstroWorld at No. 5. Post Malone still occupies the top 10 at No. 6 with beerbongs & bentleys with Ariana Grande following behind at No. 7 for Sweetener. Paul McCartney, who hosted the No. 1 spot last week, moves down to No. 8 with Egypt Station while Nicki Minaj moves back up into the top 10 at No. 9 for Queen with Juice WRLD rounding things out with his Goodbye & Good Riddance.
Notably, missing from the top 10 is NBA Youngoy's 4Respect 4Freedom 4Loyalty 4WhatImportant project. While the Baton Rouge native was expected to earn 37,000 units to secure a spot in the top 10, he more than likely fell shy of that estimate as Juice WRLD's effort only had to move 36,000 units this week to move up from 12 to 10.
Per usual, the remainder of the chart will be revealed later on in the week via Billboard.
