Things took an unpredictable turn at the top of the Billboard charts this week as Gunna’s new album unexpectedly slipped past the Weeknd’s, albeit in a photo finish that had the rapper pull ahead of the superstar competition by the tiniest of margins.
The Weeknd’s “Dawn FM” debuted with 148,000 album-equivalent units, almost but not quite a match for the 150,300 units registered by Gunna’s “DS4Ever,” Billboard revealedMonday night.
Although Weeknd is the mainstream album, both albums are equally matched in many aspects. Both were released Jan. 7 — in what is, ironically, usually a fallow period for new releases — with less than a week of advance notice. They were released in a matter of days, despite not having received any advance notice.“surprise”a time crunch, and neither of them had the time or resources to bring any physical product onto the general retail market in order to gain any competitive advantage. Gunna and Weeknd both had previous albums that debuted at No. 1. Both sparked interest in issuing a “deluxe edition”With additional tracks only days after the standard edition was issued. And both sold digital versions of the standard album in their own webstores for extremely low prices — $4 for Gunna’s and $3.49 for the Weeknd’s, Billboard noted.
The close numbers are a bit ambiguous as to who might be the No. 1 star. Since the Weeknd’s previous album proved to be a long-selling record, he will likely be No. 1 next week. “After Hours.” Then again, if last week’s chart-topper, the “Encanto”It continues to surge like this week and could soon be back at No. 1. sooner rather than later.
“Encanto”Two spots fell to No. The new chart moved up two spots to No. 3. However, this was not a true reflection of its actual consumption. The soundtrack for Disney’s animated hit actually enjoyed a 32% boost for the week, chalking up 95,700 album-equivalent units, the highest weekly tally to date for the album since it came out in mid-November.
The Weeknd has two top-10 albums, something that no one else can match. The other is his greatest-hits collection. “The Highlights,”Two spots moved up to No. 8 with 36,000 equivalent units of album logged, an increase of 8% from the previous week.
With all of her new firepower, Adele is starting to look almost mortal. “30”It slipped two spots to No. 4 with 48,300 units. This is a slight 15% drop for the blockbuster that has been out almost two months.
Among other holdovers on the Billboard 200 was Morgan Wallen’s year-old “Dangerous: The Double Album,”Hanging in at No. 5. The remaining top 10 spots were filled by Drake, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift.
The leading singles in the Billboard Hot 100 will be announced Tuesday, with all of the publication’s charts coming a day later than usual this week due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.