With five hip-hop-related releases in the top 10, it's an awesome week for the likes of The Weeknd and Bruno Mars, who swapped #2 and #3 spots since last week, along with J. Cole, Drake, and the members of Suicide Squad: The Album. The latter two made some huge jumps from last week, starting 2017 off on the right foot and each hopping 11 spots since last time. Last-minute 2016 releases from Yo Gotti (at #16) and Run The Jewels (at #35) round out a great week on the charts for rap music.
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1) The Weeknd — Starboy: Up from #3 last week is The Weeknd at #2. Starboy came out super strong, debuting at #1 with all 18 tracks in the Hot 100. Since then it's barely cooled down, and this week it adds 93,716 TAEU and 33,033 sales to the fire.
2) Bruno Mars — 24K Magic: Swapping spots with Abel is Bruno Mars, who lands at #3 this week. 24K Magic is riding high off the mega hit of the same name, which landed at #5 on the Hot 100 today. The album logs 80,510 TAEU and 54,845 sales to its name.
3) J. Cole — 4 Your Eyez Only: Another super strong debut towards the end of 2016 was J. Cole's 4 Your Eyez Only, which also copped the #1 spot with each single on the Hot 100 upon release. Spending his third week on the charts with this record, the North Carolina rapper/producer clocks 75,109 TAEU and 42,984 sales.
4) Drake – VIEWS: Jumping up all the way from #19 to #8 is Drake with VIEWS. Could it be all the publicity that he's getting with Jennifer Lopez that is to thank for the boost? Either way, the album is back in the top 10, claiming 49,239 TAEU and 18,672 sales.
5) Various Artists — Suicide Squad: The Album: Also making a huge jump, from #21 to #10, is the Suicide Squad Soundtrack, which continues to thrive off contributions from the likes of Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and Eminem. This time around, the album does 41,802 TAEU and 20,302 sales.
6) Yo Gotti — White Friday (CM9): Here's a new one: the new Yo Gotti project which features Kanye West, Kodak Black, Big Sean, DJ Khaled, and more. White Friday (CM9) was one of the final releases of 2016, coming out just a few days before Christmas. The last-minute technique worked out, as the album debuts at #16 with 33,945 TAEU and 22,731 sales.
7) Rae Sremmurd — SremmLife 2: As the #MannequinChallenge hype dies down a little bit, SremmLife 2 drifts slowly out of the top 10 and into the #19 spot. This week, the duo claims 32,111 TAEU and 3,654 sales to add to the success of their sophomore album.
8) Post Malone — Stoney: At #25 is Post Malone, whose debut full-length studio album Stoney continues to thrive despite a less-than-stellar critical response. This week, the album tallies 29,7200 TAEU and 5,826 sales.
9) Rihanna — Anti: At #28 is Rihanna, with her eighth studio album ANTI. The album had a huge 2016, and continues to do well, with 26,378 TAEU and 6,002 sales this time around, thriving off of big singles like "Work" and "Needed Me."
10) Various Artists — The Hamilton Mixtape: Hamilton the Broadway play is a massive success, and The Hamilton Mixtape is following in its tracks, to some extent. The album, which has contributions from The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Usher, Wiz Khalifa, and more, debuted at #1 and finds itself this week at the #30 spot with 25,651 TAEU and 21,923 sales.
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While SremmLife 2 recedes on the charts, "Black Beatles" actually reclaimed the #1 spot, taking the place of The Weeknd and Daft Punk's "Starboy", which is now at #3. "Bad and Boujee" by Migos and Lil Uzi Vert is the real success story of the week, however, as it jumps from #13 to #2 following the hype of a viral video of the song being performed in Nigeria. It seems possible that the track will take the #1 spot next week if the hype continues!
D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachty's "Broccoli" is back in the top 10, coming it at #10 from last week's #15. The Weeknd and Daft Punk's other collaborative hit "I Feel It Coming" actually slipped considerably, from #25 to #34. Big Sean has a new one titled "Moves" coming in at #71, Lil Yachty debuts with the KYLE collab "iSpy", Kodak Black's "Flockin" debuts at #95, Boogie Wit da Hoodie debuts at #96, and Nicki Minaj's "Black Barbies" debuts at #97. Lots of seeds have been planted there towards the top, and it'll be interesting to see how they grow over time.
