THIS CHART STORY
IS ALIVE

Drake & Future’s collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive (YMCMB/Republic/Epic), has topped the HITS Album Sales Chart with 340k and the Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart with 379k.

The set crash-landed at iTunes on Sunday night (9/20) after weeks of speculation from fans. It kicked off with a five-day Apple Music exclusivity window before moving to Spotify and other streaming services on Friday. Its release was greenlit after a last-minute deal was struck between the artists’ labels, Cash Money and Epic. The latter label’s chief, L.A. Reid, had insisted the mixtape go to market as the company is now mid-cycle on Future's DS2 (A1/Freebandz/Epic), which bowed at #1 in July, and enjoyed a boost of 18% in sales and 7% in streams this week.

On a related note, Drake's last mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, is still holding strong in the Top 20 at SPS.

Meanwhile, Lana Del Rey’s highly anticipated Honeymoon (Interscope) debuted at #2 with 111k in sales and 121k at SPS.

Warner Bros.’ Mac Miller follows at #3 with 78k for GO:OD AM and Columbia’s David Gilmour debuts at #4 with 68k for Rattle That Lock, while WMG’s Shinedown rounds out the Top 5 with 61k for Threat to Survival.

Ryan Adams’ reinterpretation of Taylor Swift’s 1989 trails close behind at #6, raking in 51k for Blue Note. The Big Machine original sees a boost of 17% in sales and 20% in streams, even though Swift was pushed down in rank due to a slew of debuts at the top.

Five other new releases make up the Top 15, including albums from Reach’s Andy Mineo (#8), Republic’s Keith Richards (#9), BMG’s Alabama (#10), UMe’s Chris Cornell (#14) and Bossier City’s Turnpike Troubadours (#15).

Streeting this week are albums from MCA Nashville’s George Strait, WMG’s Fetty Wap, Capitol’s Don Henley, Big Machine’s Thomas Rhett, Glassnote’s CHVRCHES, Epic’s Casey Veggies, Third Man’s The Dead Weather and Capitol’s Disclosure.

In other news, the Pope blessed Donald Trump's hair, mistaking it for an Irish setter.