The cultural phenomenon that is Marvel’s Black Panther has left its mark on the Billboard charts. While the hit film is setting all types of box office records, its soundtrack has locked down the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for the second week in a row.
Elsewhere, Nipsey Hussle proved the long wait for his debut album was worth it by cracking the Top 5 with Victory Lap. Also, Migos’ Culture II jumped from #4 to #2, and Moneybagg Yo entered the Top 20 after spending last week outside the Top 30.
Black Panther’s Success Extends Beyond The Box Office
The Kendrick Lamar-curated Black Panther: The Album remained atop the Billboard 200 chart following its debut at #1 last week. The project’s ability to hold down the top spot should come as no surprise considering how popular the Black Panther movie has been since it premiered earlier this month.
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The soundtrack also boasts a star-studded list of contributors — K. Dot, Future, 2 Chainz, SZA, Travis Scott and The Weeknd, just to name a few — that can entice listeners who haven’t rushed to theaters to see the film.
Read DX’s review of Black Panther: The Albumhere.
Nipsey Hussle Scores Top 5 Debut
Years of grinding on the mixtape circuit have paid off for Nipsey Hussle. The West Coast MC’s debut album, Victory Lap, debuted at #4 this week’s thanks to a tremendous amount of pure album sales. Over 30,000 of his 52,000-plus total album equivalent units came in pure album sales.
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Nipsey’s fans have always shown him gratitude with their wallets dating back to his Proud 2 Pay campaign. Even on a bigger scale, his supporters showed up to help him secure a Top 5 debut.
Read DX’s review of Victory Laphere.
Moneybagg Yo Vaults Up The Chart
Outside of the limelight, Moneybagg Yo has quietly developed into an impact player on the Billboard charts. The Yo Gotti protégé’s 2 Heartless project experienced a significant increase in sales, jumping from #31 to #16 on the chart.
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Yo’s latest release moved 21,736 units, a 53% increase from the previous week. If the trend continues, he won’t be making moves so quietly anymore.
Listen to 2 Heartlesshere.
Top 10 Billboard 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 02/22/2018
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.
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1. Various Artists — Black Panther: The Album — #1 — 131,236 (40,354) [119,531,649]
2. Migos — Culture II — #2 — 63,928 (6,933) [79,595,877]
3. Nipsey Hussle — Victory Lap — #4 — 52,299 (30,102) [30,984,409]
4. Kendrick Lamar — DAMN. — #8 — 32,617 (9,742) [30,744,643]
5. Post Malone — Stoney — #9 — 31,562 (2,387) [39,466,496]
6. Bruno Mars — 24K Magic — #11 — 27,378 (8,849) [20,927,018]
7. Khalid — American Teen — #14 — 22,893 (2,633) [27,299,064]
8. Lil Uzi Vert — Luv Is Rage 2 — #15 — 22,685 (585) [31,907,343]
9. Moneybagg Yo — 2 Heartless — #16 — 21,736 (3,955) [25,345,374]
10. G-Eazy — The Beautiful & Damned — #17 — 19,177 (1,656) [22,505,907]
