CHART STORY: ASTRONOMICAL NUMBERS
Cactus Jack/Grand Hustle/Epic’s Travis Scott has proven he’s a force to be reckoned with. His third proper studio album, ASTROWORLD, has officially scored the second-biggest bow of the year—behind only YMCMB/Republic megastar Drake, who was finally dethroned in week six. Scott debuts on our Top 50 Chart with approximately 553k. It’s worth noting that this marks Epic’s biggest bow since Sade’s Soldier of Love, which dropped in 2010 with 501k.
Drake’s no slacker, though. The behemoth that is Scorpion scores another 120k, bringing his RTD closer to the 3m mark. Republic labelmate Post Malone, meanwhile, holds at #3, tacking on 58k with beerbongs & bentleys in 2018’s third-biggest debut’s 15th week out.
As for this week’s other key newcomers, Mac Miller’s Swimming (Warner Bros.) enters the chart at #4 with 57k, while YG’s Stay Dangerous (Def Jam) rounds out the Top 5 with a little less than 56k. There’s also Moneybagg Yo’s latest mixtape, Bet on Me (N-Less/Interscope), which comes in at #11 with roughly 26k. Buzzing RCA songstress H.E.R. appears at #23 with EP I Used to Know Her: The Prelude. Simultaneously, her self-titled full-length—originally released in 2017—re-enters the chart ay #46.
Country reacts to the recently televised CMA Fest. Luke Combs’ This One’s For You Too (River House/Columbia Nashville) goes #14-12. Jason Aldean’s Rearview Town (Broken Bow) enjoys a nice little boost, busting back into the Top 25, as his recent, multi-week Country radio chart-topper, “You Make It Easy,” becomes the genre’s first song to go platinum in 2018. Another country artist, Kane Brown, also gains some momentum. The RCA Nashville/Zone 4 artist glides #40-33 with his eponymous set, following the release of new standalone single “Weekend.”
When it comes to marketshare, SME is #1 with 42%, UMG follows with 39% and WMG is #3 with 18%, while the indies claim 1%.
Streeting this week are albums by YMCMB/Republic’s Nicki Minaj, TenThousand/Caroline’s Trippie Redd and Atlantic’s Jason Mraz.
Anyway, it’s apparently National Lazy Day. We’re sure there’s a joke there…
