On the Charts: Drake’s ‘Views’ Scores 12th Week at Number One
Gucci Mane‘s post-prison comeback couldn’t knock Drake off the top of the Billboard 200 as Views racked its 12th week at Number One. The Canadian rapper’s latest moved an additional 85,000 total copies, and as in previous weeks throughout this run, the bulk of that comes from streaming equivalent albums, or SEAs.
According to Billboard, with 12 weeks atop the Billboard 200, Views has matched the dozen-week runs in the past 25 years mounted by Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill and Santana’s Supernatural. If Drake keeps the run going next week, he’ll match the Frozen soundtrack with 13 weeks at the top; after that, the next album to topple is the Titanic soundtrack’s 16 weeks at Number One. The current record holder over the past quarter century: Adele’s 21 with 24 weeks at Number One.
Gucci Mane’s Everybody Looking, the rapper’s first studio LP since 2011’s Mr. Zone 6 and his first since his release following a two-year prison stint, finished Number Two and sold 68,000 total copies, 43,000 of which came from traditional album sales. The second-place finish marks the best debut Billboard 200 position-wise in Gucci Mane’s career, besting The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted‘s Number Four debut in 2010.
It was a slow week for new release as Everybody Looking marked the only debut LP to break into the Top 10, with the rest of upper tier populated by returnees. Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface and Rihanna’s Anti held Number Three and Four respectively for the second straight week while the Epic AF compilation gained one spot to Number Five.
Propelled by the Hot 100-topping single “Cheap Thrills,” a track rejected by Rihanna, Sia’s This Is Acting jumped back into the Top 10, settling at Number Six for its best Billboard 200 position since its February debut. Adele’s 25 (Number Seven), the Hamilton Broadway cast recording (Eight), Beyoncé’s Lemonade (Nine) and Meghan Trainor’s Thank You made up the rest of the Top 10.
Next week, Drake may finally face some competition in the form of DJ Khaled’s Major Key, which has dominated the iTunes Top Albums chart since its Friday release.
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