Drake was holding down the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for months, but this past month we've seen VIEWS fluctuate in place of different #1 albums. DJ Khaled, Suicide Squad, and now Frank Ocean have all had a taste of the top spot in the late-summer blitz of new releases. Ocean, who's long-awaited follow-up to Channel Orange came out last week, was sold exclusively on Apple Music, and did just shy of a quarter million units on there. Along with streams, he shot over the quarter million mark with total album equivalent units (TAEU). Elsewhere, Tory Lanez also makes an impressive debut at the #4 spot with his first major label release I Told You, and MadeinTYO pops up at the #122 spot with his new EP You Are Forgiven. Take a closer look at everything below.
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1) Frank Ocean – Blonde: Frank Ocean scores his first #1 album with Blonde this week. Channel Orange debuted at #2 back in 2012. The wait for his latest release built a massive amount of hype, and it equated to 275,616 TAEU and 232,040 pure sales of his sophomore studio album. Endless, the visual album, wasn't eligible for Billboard placement, but it would have been interesting to see where it would have ended up had it been.
2) Drake – VIEWS: Champagne Papi is back at #2, the same spot he found himself at last week, although this week, he's got BadGalRiRi in his orbit. Drake beat out the Suicide Squad soundtrack with 77,167 TAEU and 22,022 in pure sales with VIEWS, his jam-packed, summer-smashing LP. He's been charting for 17 weeks now.
3) Various Artists – Suicide Squad: The Album: After spending the last couple weeks at #1, Suicide Squad: The Album lands at #3 during its third week on the charts. Logging 76,227 TAEU and 36,897 pure sales, the album still rides high on contributions from Skrillex, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and many more.
4) Tory Lanez – I Told You: After a pretty lengthy wait and mixtape run, Tory Lanez finally dropped his debut album. I Told You clocks 52,485 TAEU and 31,519 pure sales with an impressive showing for the Canadian rapper-- and the album was worth the wait. The album's latest single, "Luv," also got a boost from #21 to #30 on the Hot 100.
5) Rihanna – ANTI: Rihanna's eighth studio album shows up at #8 this week, up one spot from last week. After spending 31 weeks on the Billboard charts, the record still has what it takes to sell and stream well. Acquiring 27,299 TAEU and 4,880 in pure sales is no easy feat, but an artist of Rihanna's scope can do it while being six months removed from the album's initial release.
6) DJ Khaled – Major Key: DJ Khaled is hanging on to a spot in the top 10, coming in at #9 this week with Major Key, a three-spot drop off from last week's position. Khaled's album boasts an insane roster of contributors, and its enough to land the Miami DJ-turned-Snapchat-phenom 27,064 TAEU and 6,965 in physical copies of his ninth studio album.
7) Beyonce – LEMONADE: Beyonce has been on a slow decent down the Bilblaor Beyonce bounces up a couple spots on the Billboard chart this week, moving from #15 to #13. LEMONADE, her latest multi-media release, counts 18,535 TAEU and 12,545 pure sales during its 18th week on the charts.
8) Bryson Tiller – Trapsoul: After 48 weeks on the Billboard 200, Bryson Tiller's Trapsoul is still hanging in the top 20 spots. It's an insane acomplishment for any artist, let alone someone who sprung up over night like Tiller did. The record does 15,713 TAEU and 3,522 in pure sales this time around as it holds down the #19 spot.
9) Kevin Gates – ISLAH: Kevin Gates is another rising star. The Baton Rouge rapper put out a bunch of mixtapes before finally honing his craft on ISLAH, his debut studio album which came in at #23 this week, just a couple spots lower than last week's stint at #21. The record still clocks 14,985 TAEU and 4,226 pure sales though, pretty great for a record that has now spent 30 weeks on the charts.
10) Kanye West – The Life of Pablo: With no sales, Kanye West still manages to scoop up the #24 spot with The Life of Pablo. The larger-than-life rapper debuted a flying stage this week, spoke at the VMAs, and released a new music video in addition to tallying 14,134 TAEU with his latest record. Thank you Mr. West.
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While The Chainsmokers continue to hold down the #1 spot with their Halsey collaboration "Closer," Major Lazer is coming in hot with Justin Bieber and MØ in tow. Twenty One Pilots impressively hold down the #4 and #5 spots, and Drake's "One Dance" continues to slowly fall down the line, coming in at #8 this week, but he also has eight appearances on the charts. Frank Ocean's album earned him five spots on the chart, although they all hang out in the 80+ region.
