Metro Boomin‘s new album Heroes & Villains has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Released on December 2, the Atlanta producer’s second studio effort earned roughly 185,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Of that figure, 179,000 were SEA units (233.38 million on-demand song streams), 5,000 were pure album sales and 1,000 were TEA units.
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Heroes & Villains beat out Taylor Swift’s Midnights to the top spot, with the pop juggernaut’s best-selling album falling to No. 2 after managing an additional 143,000 units in the last week.
The star-studded project — which features Future, Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage, The Weeknd and more — serves as Metro’s third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and his fifth to reach the top 10.
Metro Boomin’s debut album Not All Heroes Wear Capes also opened at No. 1 in 2018 with roughly 99,000 album-equivalent units, with his 2020 collaborative album with 21 Savage, Savage Mode II, also topping the Billboard 200.
Metro’s 2017 joint album with 21 Savage and Offset, Without Warning, peaked at No. 4, while his Double or Nothing effort with Big Sean hit No. 6 that same year.
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During a recent interview with GQ, Metro Boomin spoke about how Dr. Dre’s 2001 inspired Heroes & Villains, with Nate Dogg laying the blueprint for Don Toliver’s contributions.
“I told [Don Toliver], ‘Like 2001, you’ve got the Nate Dogg role. That’s you,’” he said.
Heroes & Villains was originally set to arrive on November 4, but was delayed to December 2 due to sample clearance issues. However, Metro denied he pushed it back to avoid a showdown with Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss.
“I couldn’t get all the samples on my album cleared in time for next week so I’m dropping on Dec 2nd now so I have enough time to make sure you all get this masterpiece as intended. I promise it’s worth the wait!!” he tweeted at the time.
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“P.S. I would NEVER move my album date because of anyone else,” he added along with a crying face emoji.
