Lil Uzi Vert blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with Eternal Atake, marking his second No. 1 and the biggest streaming week for an album since 2018.
The set was released on March 6 via Generation Now/Atlantic, and starts with 288,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending March 12, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It’s the rapper’s first release in nearly two-and-a-half years, since his first leader, Luv Is Rage 2, bowed at No. 1 on the Sept. 17, 2017-dated chart with 135,000 units.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new March 21-dated chart, where Eternal Atake bows at No. 1, will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on March 17.
Of Eternal Atake’s first-week units, 278,000 are in SEA units, a little under 9,000 are in album sales and 2,000 are in TEA units. That 278,000 SEA-unit figure translates to a whopping 400 million on-demand streams for the set’s 18 tracks during the tracking week. That’s the fourth-largest streaming week ever for an album, and the largest week for any album since Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V started with 433 million clicks (Oct. 13, 2018-dated chart). (Note: since January, streams on the Billboard 200 now include both on-demand audio and video streams. Before that, streams were audio only. That said, Eternal Atake would still have the biggest streaming week since Tha Carter V’s arrival, even if only audio streams were counted.)
The streaming high-water mark among all albums is owned by Drake’s Scorpion, which opened with 746 million streams in its first week (July 14, 2018).
As Eternal Atake starts with a total of 288,000 units, it also logs the second-biggest week of 2020 for any album. It trails behind the opening week of BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, which launched with 422,000 units (powered by a robust album sales figure of 347,000).
Eternal Atake will likely continue to earn big streaming numbers and units in the coming days, as the set was quickly reissued in a deluxe edition on March 13, just a week after its release. The deluxe album was bolstered with an additional 14 tracks, boasting many guest artists, including Future, Young Thug and Gunna. (All versions of the album will be combined together for tracking and charting purposes.) Also possibly aiding Eternal Atake in its second week (along with all music) will be streams and sales spurred by fans who are now out of school or working from home in the wake of reaction to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Big news for Lils: As Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake bumps Lil Baby’s My Turn from the No. 1 slot (the latter falls to No. 4), it’s the first time a Lil artist has replaced another Lil act at No. 1. In fact, Lil Uzi Vert is the third Lil act to reach No. 1 in 2020, following Lil Baby and Lil Wayne (Funeral; Feb. 15, 2020). Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Baby and Lil Wayne are the only three Lil acts with a No. 1 album. My Turn was Lil Baby’s first, while Funeral was Lil Wayne’s fifth No. 1.
Outside of the Lil acts, there is one Little artist that hit No. 1: Little Stevie Wonder. Back in 1963, Stevie Wonder, then known as Little Stevie Wonder, topped the Billboard 200 with his live album The 12 Year Old Genius (featuring the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Fingertips”). It was the only album credited to Little Stevie Wonder. The legend later notched two more No. 1 albums with Fullfillingness’ First Finale (1974) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976).
Honorable mentions go to the Lil and Little acts that have peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200: Little Big Town, Lil Yachty and Lil Nas X.
Back on the new Billboard 200, Jhené Aiko scores her highest charting album ever, as Chilombo debuts at No. 2. The set starts with 152,000 equivalent album units earned, her best week since the chart began measuring by units in December of 2014. Of its starting sum, 112,000 are in SEA units, 38,000 are album sales and 2,000 are TEA units. (Some of the set’s album sales were generated by a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with her upcoming tour.)
Chilombo is Aiko’s fourth top 10 effort as a soloist, following Trip (No. 5, 2017), Souled Out (No. 3, 2014) and Sail Out (No. 8, 2013). She also visited the top 10 as one-half of the Twenty88 duo, alongside Big Sean, reaching No. 5 with the act’s self-titled album in 2016.
Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG slips from No. 2 to No. 3 in its second week (111,000 equivalent album units; down 38%), while Lil Baby’s My Turn, as noted above, falls from No. 1 to No. 4 in its second stanza (104,000; down 47%).
Korean pop group NCT 127 lands its first top 10 effort, as NCT #127: Neo-Zone, The 2nd Album debuts at No. 5. The act’s previous high was claimed with its last release, 2019’s NCT #127 We Are Superhuman: The 4th Mini Album, which debuted and peaked at No. 11.The new release earned 87,000 equivalent album units in its first week, with album sales comprising 83,000 of that sum. Its sales got a boost from an array of merchandise/album bundles sold through the act’s webstore, as well as a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with its upcoming tour. The album also sold strongly at brick-and-mortar stores, including Target.
A quartet of former No. 1s trail NCT 127 on the new Billboard 200: Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial descends 5-6 (57,000 equivalent album units; down 10%), Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding climbs 9-7 (51,000; up 2%), BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7 falls 3-8 (50,000; down 40%) and Justin Bieber’s Changes dips 6-9 (47,000; down 23%).
Closing out the top 10 is Megan Thee Stallion, who scores her second top 10 effort with Suga. The set opens at No. 10 with 41,000 equivalent album units earned, with 36,000 of that sum derived from SEA units. The new release follows the rapper’s previous top 10 entry, Fever, which also debuted (and peaked) at No. 10 (June 1, 2019-dated chart).
