Kendrick Lamar has taken over the chart at #1 with the surprise release of his new album To Pimp A Butterfly. The success of the TDE rapper knocked the soundtrack to Empire’s first season down a spot to #2 and Drake made up some lost ground with a climb from #7 to #6.
Lower down the list, both Big Sean and Nicki Minaj fell a half dozen spots each in a single week, while J. Cole bottomed out at #28, the lowest spot his 2014 Forest Hills Drive record has seen since its release.
Kendrick Lamar Dominates At #1
On top of consecutive single-day stream records on Spotify, Kendrick Lamar officially has the #1 album in the country. To Pimp A Butterfly sold a total of 324,403 copies since it was released, less than the million copies TDE’s Top Dawg hoped for last week. The number earns Lamar the second-best first-week sales performance of the year for a Hip Hop album. Drake pushed 494,746 units of If Youre Reading This Its Too Late within a week of his own surprise drop.
Still, To Pimp A Butterfly is Lamar’s most successful rollout to date. It was streamed nearly 39 million times over the past week and saw single song purchases from the album reach nearly 125,000. In late 2012, Kendrick pushed 241,000 copies of his album good kid m.A.A.d. city in its debut week and passed the million sold milestone more than six months later in 2013.
Empire Soundtrack Knocked Off Top Spot
Despite a 16% performance drop from the week before, the Empire soundtrack easily outsold Modest Mouse’s new album, but fell to #2 at the same time. The soundtrack sold 88,971 albums over the latest sales period, bringing its total count to 198,556. The soundtrack was streamed more than 5.5 million times over the last week as well.
Drake Regains Ground
A month-and-a-half after its release, If Youre Reading This Its Too Late is still in the Top 10 at #6 this week. Drake’s new record stuttered 11% when compared to last week’s report, but still sold more than 24,000 copies, bringing its total sales up to 774,420. Despite trailing behind a handful of other albums, Drake’s record is the second-best streaming performer on the chart with more than 23.5 million tallied streams.
Top 10 Billboard Top 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 03/22/2015
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. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly – 362,687 (324,403) [38,725,544]
#2. Empire Cast – Original Soundtrack From Season 1 – 109,689 (88,971) [5,575,990]
#6. Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late – 52,288 (24,457) [23,534,659]
#16. Big Sean – Dark Sky Paradise – 33,936 (18,424) [10,458,311]
#19. Nicki Minaj – Pinkprint – 28,010 (8,719) [9,915,593]
#22. Mark Ronson – Uptown Special – 25,904 (3,613) [4,990,637]
#28. J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive -18,575 (12,131) [6,012,609]
#33. Chris Brown & Tyga – Fan of a Fan: The Album – 13,147 (6,635) [4,175,468]
#34. Rae Sremmurd – Sremmlife – 12,646 (3,781) [4,475,929]
#37. Pitbull – Globalization – 12,292 (2,378) [3,515,227]
For additional Kendrick Lamar coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
QUESTION: I see sales from the week along with streams and total sales including streams for the week where is the number of OVERALL TOTAL SALES like what used to be posted?
It’s solid sales from Kendrick but I was expecting him to do at least 500k, considering how his album grew over time than being forgotten in a month or two like most rap albums nowadays. I wanted him to have a bigger explosion in sales like eminem where his first album started a bit slow but had long legs and then exploded with his second album in sales.
Remember when all you losers said Dumbo was going to be drake in sales? He ain’t coming close to shit so where are all you losers at? OVO FOR LIFE!!
Relax, fool. This article just came up. These are great sales from Kendrick and, besides, I don’t think everyone was aware that the album dropped a week earlier than it was supposed to.
Drake isn’t gonna pay you anything to stan for him everyday nor are you getting paid to hate on Kendrick. Besides, Kendrick still has the better album at the end of the day.
Drake dropped out an album without ANY WARNING and still sold over 500k at the end. Kendrick fans at least knew there was an album on the way.
People already knew Drake was gonna drop an album.
Drake has the better album. In fact Lupe Fiasco and Joey Badass have better albums too. Kendrick’s album is good, but it is being gased up way too much. If lyrics matter that much in terms of how we evaluate albums than Lupe’s is superior to Kendrick’s on bars alone. If you disagree with that last sentence than clearly you’re a hypocrite, dickrider and/or are too stupid to understand Lupe’s lyrics.
No, Kendrick’s album is better than Drake. Tetsuo & Youth and B4.DA.$$ is dope, too. But Drake’s new album is trash.
“Drake dropped out an album without ANY WARNING and still sold over 500k at the end.” Well, so did Beyonce, so what’s your point?
Both Bada$$ & Lupe’s albums are dope, but Kendrick’s trumps them all in terms of musicality. Lupe might have better lyrics, while Bada$$ more boombap, but layer upon layer, Kendrick’s shit so intricate this time, it’s the best hiphop album out there at the moment.
Why does Drake stans keep saying he dropped without warning. If h did that then why did I find out about a surprise drop back in Jan? Shit wasn’t a surprise drop people knew it was coming.
Drake didn’t even release physical copies of his album.
Sorry, but Tetsuo and Youth is better than anything that Joey, Drake and Kendrick have ever released. The fact that the album tells a different story if you play it backwards, is incredible. That’s lyrical craftsmanship at its finest and something that is extremely difficult to pull off. Many of his triple and quadruple entendres have more focal meanings depending on which direction you play the tracks in. The social commentary is not much different than Kendrick’s album and sonically the album is great. The vibe of the tracks and interludes fit with the parts of the story that are being told. People are sleeping hard on Lupe’s album. It’s a classic. I understand that Lupe can come across as a egotistical douchebag, but don’t let that, or his esoteric lyrics cloud your judgment, Tetsuo and Youth is stunning.
They should really post a link to the source for this info b/c I cannot find any of these numbers on Billboards website. For top HipHop albums for week ending 3/21 (not 3/22) Billboard has Drake listed number 1, not Kendrick. And for week ending 3/28, they have they do have Empire soundtrack as number 1. So where did these numbers come from???
Hitsdailydouble.com
Drake is on top of the game. Nigga drops a surprise album and he still dominates. No hype, no promotion, no build up, just numbers at the end of the day. If Drake dies he will be a muthafuckin’ legend!
Nope.
Yep. Drake could drop an album of just his farts and would still sell and be better than dumbo’s overproduced crap.
^ Nope. It would be shit. Kendrick’s worst songs are better than Drake’s best.
Yet. Drake still outsold him. Numbers don’t lie Stan… LoL
^ And sales doesn’t automatically mean the best. Kendrick’s album is still better.
Kendrick better. Drake is for the capitalist not the culture.
Sales mean absolutely NOTHING to me and it NEVER will, in showing a rappers greatness. If that’s the case then PSY (gangnam style) is the greatest rapper of all time on new aged media. Illmatic is the greatest hip hop album of all time and that went gold like “last week”, so sales mean NOTHING.
Drake is wack
Not Impressed
40 you talk that gangsta shit shouldnt have been alone if the so called jumped you wich didnt happen!!! Nigga beat yo ass wit one hand and filmed it with the other hahahahahah real nigga shit!!!!!!! Game is smart regardless of how many niggaz was wit him when u talk that gangsta shit be bout that shit at all times!! Kendrick still better than drake you haters fuck sales!!!! Drake is a great artist Kendrick is a better rapper facts!!!!! drake aint hiphop !!!!!!!
K. Dot makes pennies on those streams though. That’s wack too. Congress needs to fix that BS.
Does congress really need to fix that? Or is more reasonable now that artists have to rely on touring and can’t just make infinite money in one day from album sales?
God forbid being a recording artist becomes comparable to a job.
I see sales from the week along with streams and total sales including streams for the week where is the number of OVERALL TOTAL SALES like what used to be posted?
In sales first week out:
1. Flake
2. J. Cole
3. KDOT
LMAO @ Flake.
I respect Kendrick for exposing racism and supporting black power!
Love Kendrick but don’t act like that shit ain’t obvious
I love the way you stans count another man’s pennies.
Drake makes music for Homosexuals and white chicks. And yall Drake stans know it too. ALL hail King Kendrick. TPAB is an unfuckwitable masterpiece. Best Hip Hop record since Illmatic.
Very Impressed
alright Butterfly
Oh please, the prince of the UAE invited Drake to perform 2 weeks ago. Last time I checked he ain’t a White chick and very few White chicks were among the tens of thousands who saw him perform.
Hip hop done been dead for awhile. This album has promotion from the song “I” on NBA tonight, is under a major label and has critical acclaim. I think it was a couple days short of a full week in sales to be reflected but those are not major sales numbers, they are good but not premier sales numbers in any era
u do know all dmx first week sales were in the 3oo,000’s right? dumbass
He dropped on on the Sunday instead of Tuesday so it actually had a couple extra days advantage
drake only matters in hiphop. Rappers like kenderick are irrelevent. Hahaha he cant even do j cole numbers what a joke. Dumbo will now wait another 10 years to realease another peice of trash album. At that point even all these nerd hipster virgins will have forgotton about dumbo. Like i said dumbo should have worked as drakes shoe shine boy instead of trying to compete with the king of this rap shit and face of hiphop.
Do you ever get tired of the hate and lies you spew? Just give up.
You have no idea what the definition of irrelevant is.
…Uh.
J.Cole’s album dropped December of last year, while Kendrick’s hadn’t even been out for a month. Of course Cole’s album is going have better numbers. IT’S BEEN OUT LONGER.
The hate for Drake on this site is ridiculous. Drake is the Lebron James of this rap game. His versatility, originality, marketability and his stats are off the charts, or should I say all over the charts. Keep hating, it only motivates Drake. He will never go away. He’s been doing this shit for nearly 10 years. He’s an estabilished vet who will go down as one of the all-time hip-hop greats.
Hi, dickrider. Get those lies outta here. Aubrey ain’t a vet and he’ll never be an all-time great making mediocre music.
What is your definition of a vet? Didn’t his first mixtape drop in 2006? I’d have to agree that at the 10 year mark you’re a vet.
Drake is wack. Lil wayne already mastered his style(minus the annoying singing and crooning of course).
PS-
Not Impressed
Drake’s been putting out mixtapes/albums since 2006. Once you hit 10 years you are a vet. If Nas can get away with calling himself a vet when Stillmatic dropped in ’01 than Drake is a vet.
Sorry, but Aubrey is no vet. Mixtapes don’t count.
What’s with the whole Kendrick vs. Drake debate on here? Are those two even beefing?
As far as I’m concerned, those two are actually cool with each other. It’s just their fans going against each other.
Thanks for the info. I’m a fan of both Drake and Kendrick, and I thought the two were having some sort of dispute I didn’t know about, due to all the arguing on here. People should just chill and listen to the music.
So I guess Drake’s new album now has some serious competition with Kendrick’s new joint in the most overrated in rap category. I listened to both of these albums 3x all the way through just to see what all the hype is about. Both of em have about 3 tracks that I will consider listening to in a few years. In albums that have dropped in the last month, I’d rather listen to Action Bronson or Fashawn.
Your opinion is your opinion. I’m a big Bronsolino guy, but his latest tape doesn’t hold a candle to Kendrick’s. There’s no depth there, solid songs typical bronson, but nothing to actually reflect and appreciate.
I still bump Drake’s latest. I don’t think I’ll be playing Kendrick’s album in a months time.
Your username says it all.
Lmao @ C.Papi Life Killer.. Shit too funny and REal .. He’s a simple minded fuck that’s y .. probably drink Canadian dry and watch degrassi lmao
So U Mean To Tell Me, If There Were No Internet Downloading, And People Actually Had To Buy The Album, K.Dot Would Of Sold close To 39 Mill? 4x Diamond? Smh Man If I Was These Music Label Owners, I’ll B Trying TO Figure A Way To Kill The Internet Downloading Or Streaming smh A lot Of Money Is Being Lost, But I Guess Concert Sales Make Up For That .. Crazy
I don’t get this new fad of counting album sales. You heard Kendrick say it on his album “Critics wanna mention that they miss when hip hop was rappin / muthafu**a if you did then Killer Mike would be platinum”.
Stop counting sales and just appreciate good music.
New fad? It cost money to produce the album, and I’m pretty sure that Kendrick Lamar is not living in a hovel.
ahahhaha more then 1 bilion view from all this videos and they get a shit from album sale hahhaha plus all 50% sale in usa go to uncle sam ahahahha people dont know a shit..
fukin sheeps