A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie secured the top spot on Billboard 200 for the first time in his career. The Atlantic Records artist’s Hoodie SZN reached No. 1 after spending the previous two weeks behind 21 Savage’s I Am > I Was. 21 didn’t slip much though, flipping spots with A Boogie with a No. 2.
Elsewhere on the chart, Hip Hop continued to dominate the Top 10. Meek Mill, Post Malone, Drake, Travis Scott and Kodak Black maintained their strangleholds on the chart while emerging artists such as Blueface and YNW Melly managed to find their way onto the Top 200.
A Boogie Reaches No. 1
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie earned the first No. 1 album of his career, surpassing 21 Savage for the top spot. The Bronx native’s Hoodie SZN moved 58,341 total album equivalent units, edging out 21’s 55,719 units moved.
Although 21 sold much more in terms of pure album sales (2,804 copies compared to A Boogie’s 823), A Boogie’s streaming numbers allowed him to dethrone Slaughter Gang rhymer. The co-owner of Highbridge The Label racked up more than 83 million streams, making up for his relatively modest album sales.
Prior to Hoodie SZN, A Boogie’s best performing project was his debut album, The Bigger Artist. The LP peaked at No. 4 in 2017.
R. Kelly Returns To Chart Amid Controversy
The increased scrutiny facing R. Kelly due to Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docu-series hasn’t stopped people from listening to his music. Despite the outrage, an RCA Records compilation of his work titled Essential R. Kelly managed to make its way onto the Billboard 200.
The 35-track compilation reached No. 144 by selling 6,832 total album equivalent units. The project, which was released in 2014, includes some of Kelly’s biggest hits such as “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition (Remix).”
Blueface & YNW Melly Crack Top 200
A few Hip Hop up-and-comers found their way onto Billboard 200 during a relatively quiet week. More than six months after its release, Blueface’s Famous Cryp made its chart debut at No. 162. YNW Melly’s I Am You, which dropped last August, also snuck into the Top 200 at No. 192. The meme-friendly Blueface moved 6,374 units while Melly secured a total of 5,680.
The two may have lucked out due to the slow release schedule in early January, but it’s still a noteworthy accomplishment for the newcomers. Their projects each attained over 9 million streams for the week, which is impressive considering how long ago they were released.
Top 10 Billboard 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 01/10/2019
Note: The first number below is this week’s “total album equivalent units” count, an intersection of album sales, single sales, and streams implemented by Billboard’s new rating system. A pure album sales figure is available in bold in parenthesis and information about each album’s streaming count is available in brackets.
1. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie — Hoodie SZN — No. 1 — 58,341 (823) [83,023,006]
2. 21 Savage — I Am > I Was — No. 2 — 55,719 (2,804) [74,290,232]
3. Meek Mill — Championships — No. 4 — 46,386 (1,534) [59,122,941]
4. Post Malone — Beerbongs & Bentleys — No. 5 — 42,989 (4,679) [50,799,968]
5. Travis Scott — Astroworld — No. 6 — 41,148 (2,581) [51,781,966]
6. Drake — Scorpion — No. 8 — 40,786 (3,119) [50,160,149]
7. Kodak Black — Dying To Live — No. 9 — 38,512 (613) [53,780,461]
8. Juice WRLD — Goodbye & Good Riddance — No. 13 — 27,252 (483) [41,663,452]
9. Cardi B — Invasion Of Privacy — No. 14 — 26,192 (2,087) [31,321,330]
10. YoungBoy Never Broke Again — Realer — No. 15 — 26,165 (403) [38,138,072]
Fuck.. Every time I see 1 of these new cats on top, I get hype to find something I may have been missing out on.. Instead, I go listen to the project and find auto-tuned voices, over the same trap beats with a Dr. Seuss rhyme scheme…. Doesn’t this new generation like ORIGINALITY or skillz AT ALL????
“The dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum”
That rhyme is from 22 years ago. Super relevant
Doesn’t take much to make an impact nowadays. Hell, Travis Scott could have diarrhea on the track mixed with auto-tune and random sound effect and debut at Number 1. Just Saying
the new cat that will be pushed by the machinery
Aint he signed to Shady records. Not Atlantic. Nice only 800 copies to go #1 nowadays. Sweet. Its a top 10 classic already
That one is “Boogie”. this one is “A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie”. How creative rap names.
#1 spot used to mean something. Now anybody can get it. Never even heard of this guy before opening this article.
That’s because you don’t listen to music other then Wu-Tang. A boogie got bars and he ain’t no mumble rapper either foh
Yes he is…and he’s pretty wack at that. Name any song of his that has any type of complex bars……. I’ll wait…..let me go get a chair…… exactly.
I actually like a few of his songs, but i wouldnt say he has bars. And may not quite be a mumble rapper perse, but that auto tune shit makes him pretty close
These new idiots are placing number 1 with selling a couple of hundred copies, woopty do.
Haha how sad. These days you can buy 500 times your own album and be on the billboard 200.
#1 of of 55K, lmfao
Never heard of him. Damn 55K is something pop bottles to? Those are flop numbers.