Hip Hop Album Sales: Eminem’s “Kamikaze” Soars To No. 1 On Billboard 200 With Epic Debut

Eminem’s Kamikaze has hit the Billboard 200 chart at No. 1 for the week ending September 6. Every album he’s released since 2000 has debuted at the top, including 2017’s Revival. 

Subsequently, Slim Shady is one of just two rappers to have nine consecutive No. 1 debuts. JAY-Z is the only other MC to have accomplished this feat with 14 back-to-back No. 1 debuts.

Elsewhere on the chart, Travis Scott’s Astroworld is holding steady at No. 2, while Nicki Minaj’s Queen moves from No. 5 to No. 7.

Drake’s Scorpion also maintains its No. 3 position and Blac Youngsta’s F*ck Everybody 2 enters in the Top 100.

“Kamikaze” Divebombs Right Into No. 1

Eminem released Kamikaze on August 30 with zero warning, much to the delight of his fans. The 13-track album found Shady spewing venom at his critics and blasting rappers like Lil Pump, Machine Gun Kelly and Joe Budden.

All that energy has paid off and Em’s ninth studio album sits in the Billboard 200’s coveted spot with 433,575 total album equivalent units (251,692 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 225,534,818).

This is Em’s second No. 1 debut in under a year. Revival hit the chart at No. 1 following its December 2017 release but with significantly less sales. In its first week, Revival sold roughly 267,000 total album equivalent units.

Kamikaze also marks the fourth-largest week and third-largest sales week for any album of 2018. It’s Eminem’s biggest streaming week ever for an album as well.

Read the Kamikaze review here.

Travis Scott > Nicki Minaj

Despite all of Nicki Minaj’s ranting and raving, Travis Scott’s Astroworld remains ahead of Nicki’s Queen album. For the third consecutive week, Astroworld has maintained its No. 2 position thanks to 79,756 total album equivalent units (5,803 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 98,672,536).

Black Barbie blamed Spotify and La Flame’s tour bundles for her No. 2 debut last month. She believed Scott’s billionaire girlfriend Kylie Jenner helped him secure the No. 1 spot and insisted she had the No. 1 album that week.

Either way, Scott’s follow-up to 2016’s Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight has given the 26-year-old his second No. 1 studio album.

Read the Astroworld review here.

Blac Youngsta Debuts In Top 100

Blac Youngsta’s F*ck Everybody 2 mixtape has entered the chart at No. 63 with 9,713 total album equivalent units (712 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 11,442,471). Its predecessor, F*ck Everybody, was released in 2016.

Youngsta’s sequel also serves as the follow-up to 223, which the Yo Gotti affiliate released in February.

Read the F*ck Everybody 2 review here. 

Top 10 Billboard 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 9/6/2018

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. Eminem — Kamikaze – No. 1. — 433,575 (251,692) [225,534,818]
2. Travis Scott — Astroworld — No. 2 — 79,756 (5,803) [98,672,536]
3. Drake — Scorpion — No. 3 — 78,653 (4,661) [97,044,118]
4. Post Malone — Beerbongs & Bentleys — No. 6 — 50,848 (3,839) [62,147,596]
5. Nicki Minaj — Queen — No. 7 — 48,609 (5,966) [57,653,034]
6. Juice WRLD — Goodbye & Good Riddance — No. 10 — 38,410 (779) [58,651,946]
7. XXXTENTACION — ? — No. 11 — 31,704 (1,714) [46,904,644]
8. Cardi B — Invasion Of Privacy — No. 12 — 31,389 (1,152) [37,637,035]
9. Trippie Redd — Life’s A Trip — No. 16 — 21,451 (258) [33,167,571]
10. Lil Baby — Harder Than Ever — No. 18 — 20,800 (128) [28,356,734]