On the Charts: Kane Brown’s ‘Experiment’ Debuts at Number One
Kane Brown, who Rolling Stone dubbed “country music’s new outcast king,” captured his first Number One as the country singer’s second album Experiment opened atop the Billboard 200. Experiment is only the third country music release to earn the top spot in 2018, following Carrie Underwood’s Cry Pretty and Jason Aldean’s Rearview Town.
Experiment sold 124,000 total copies, including 105,000 traditional album sales, to take Number One, with the rising singer-songwriter improving upon the Number Five peak of 2016’s Kane Brown, Billboard reports.
New releases occupied five of the Billboard 200’s Top Six as, after Experiment, Imagine Dragons’ Origins entered the charts at Number Two and 91,000 total copies; three of Imagine Dragons’ four studio albums have peaked at Number Two, with only 2015’s Smoke + Mirrors attaining Number One status.
Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter debuted at Number Three and 84,000 total copies, followed by Lil Peep’s posthumous Come Over When You’re Sober Pt. 2 opening at Number Four and 81,000 total copies. A Star Is Born soundtrack was the week’s top-performing returnee at Number Five.
At Number Six, the Beatles’ self-titled “White Album” returned to the Billboard 200 thanks to the massive deluxe reissue dedicated to the Fab Four’s 1968 masterpiece. Released in a variety of formats, the “White Album” reissue sold 63,000 total 50th anniversary copies to give The Beatles its best chart position since March 1969, Billboard noted.
The back half of the Top 10 were largely Billboard 200 returnees: The Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack at Number Seven, Metro Boomin’s former chart-topping Not All Heroes Wear Capes at Number Eight, Drake’s Scorpion at Number Nine and Travis Scott’s Astroworld at Number 10.
After Mariah Carey fans managed to get the Glitter soundtrack to the top of the iTunes album chart this week, expect the singer’s Caution to follow a similar path to the top of the Billboard 200, with Mumford & Sons’ Delta providing some competition.