Drake’s Certified Lover Boy spends a second week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set earned 236,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 16 (down 61%), according to MRC Data. The set opened at No. 1 a week ago with the year’s biggest week for an album, 613,000 units.
Also in the top 10: Kacey Musgraves’ Star-Crossed debuts at No. 3, Baby Keem’s The Melodic Blue bows at No. 5 and Metallica’s 1991 self-titled album (often referred to as The Black Album) jumps from No. 158 to No. 9 following its 30th anniversary reissue.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 25, 2021-dated chart (where Certified Lover Boy holds at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Sept. 21. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Certified Lover Boy’s 236,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 16, SEA units comprise 227,000 units (down 60%, equaling 305.43 million on-demand streams of the album’s 21 tracks), album sales comprise 6,500 (down 86%) and TEA units comprise 2,500 units (down 45%).
Of Drake’s 10 No. 1 albums, Certified is his fourth to spend more than a week atop the list. His other multiple-week chart-toppers are Scorpion (No. 1 for five weeks in 2018), More Life (No. 1 for three weeks in 2017) and Views (No. 1 for 13 weeks in 2016).
Kanye West’s former No. 1 Donda is a non-mover at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, with 79,000 equivalent album units earned (down 44%).
Kacey Musgraves’ new studio album Star-Crossed debuts at No. 3 with 77,000 equivalent album units earned, scoring the singer-songwriter her fourth top five-charting effort. Plus, the album’s 77,000 units marks Musgraves’ largest week, by units earned, since the Billboard 200 began measuring by units in December of 2014.
Of Star-Crossed’s 77,000 units, album sales comprise 47,000 (making it the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 30,000 (equaling 38.23 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise less than 1,000 units. Star-Crossed’s sales of 47,000 mark Musgraves’ second-largest sales week, trailing only the debut of Pageant Material, which bowed with 55,000 sold (July 11, 2015-dated chart).
Star-Crossed also logs the second-largest debut streaming week for a country album by a woman, in terms of on-demand streams (38.23 million). Only Taylor Swift’s re-recorded Fearless (Taylor’s Version) had a larger debut frame, when it launched with 142.98 million clicks on the April 24, 2021-dated chart.
Star-Crossed follows Musgraves’ 2018 album Golden Hour, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the April 14, 2018 chart. The set would later win two Grammy Awards, for best country album and for album of the year.
Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour is stationary at No. 4 with 54,000 equivalent album units earned (down 11%).
Baby Keem’s debut album The Melodic Blue bows at No. 5 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 52,000 (equaling 70.13 million on-demand streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 and TEA units comprise less than 1,000. The set features two collaborations with Baby Keem’s cousin Kendrick Lamar as well as a joint effort with Travis Scott and a track featuring Don Toliver.
Doja Cat’s Planet Her falls from No. 5 to No. 6 with 50,000 equivalent album units earned – though it’s up 1% for the week. During the tracking frame, she pulled double-duty on the Sept. 12 MTV Video Music Awards, as the show’s host and a performer. She also took home the award for best collaboration, for the album’s “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA.
The Kid LAROI’s F*ck Love rises 8-7 with 39,000 equivalent album units (down less than 1%) and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album dips 6-8 with just under 39,000 units (down 3%). Both albums previously hit No. 1.
Metallica’s 1991 self-titled No. 1 album (often referred to as The Black Album, due to its stark black cover) surges from No. 158 to No. 9 in the wake of its 30th anniversary reissue on Sept. 10 in a variety of formats. The set earned 37,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 16 (up 397%). Of that sum, album sales comprise 29,000 (up 1,365%), SEA units comprise nearly 7,000 (up 34%, equaling 9.17 million on-demand streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 101%). All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.
Metallica returns to the top 10, and its highest rank, for the first time in 29 years. It was last in the top 10 on the Aug. 22, 1992, chart (at No. 10) and was last higher on the April 11, 1992, tally (No. 6).
The self-titled set became the band’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (of six to-date), and it debuted atop the list dated Aug. 31, 1991 and spent four straight and total weeks at No. 1. Metallica remains the top-selling album in the U.S. since MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991, with 17.3 million copies sold.
Rounding out the Billboard 200’s latest top 10 is Billie Eilish’s former No. 1 Happier Than Ever, falling 7-10 with 34,000 equivalent album units (down 14%).
