KHALED VS. DRAKE: UPDATE

DJ Khaled currently holds the edge for a #1 Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) bow this week and looks to prevent longtime chart champ Drake's 13th non-consecutive chart-topping week. Khaled’s Apple exclusive album, Major Key (We The Best/Epic) enjoyed strong streaming and sales numbers over the weekend; the fact that users of Spotify, Tidal and other rival streaming services can’t hear the album in its entirety may well have helped spike downloads.

Khaled is slated to go wide to all DSPs and release physical product on Friday.

It’s noteworthy, though, that none of the three Khaled tracks that did go wide—including “For Free” f/Drake—appear on Spotify’s influential Rap Caviar and Today’s Top Hits playlists. Is Spotify pushing back against Apple exclusives? What will be the eventual impact of their being left off of these very popular platforms? Stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s how the week’s new releases are looking.

DJ Khaled (We The Best/Epic) 90-100k SPS, 60-65k album
Jake Owen (RCA Nashville) 32-37k, 28-32k
Fantasia (RCA) 28-32k, 27-30k
Hillary Scott & The Scott Family (EMI Nashville) 21-23k, 18-20k