On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 20), DJ Khaled notched his first No. 1 with the arrival of Major Key. The chart-topping debut bumped Drake’s Views out of the top slot after 12 nonconsecutive weeks. Elsewhere in the top 10, Jake Owen’s American Love bowed at No. 4, followed by Fantasia’s The Definition Of… at No. 6 and Hillary Scott & The Scott Family’s Love Remains at No. 7.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the latest Billboard 200 chart:
– Frank Ocean, Channel Orange – No. 146 – After more than three years off the chart, Frank Ocean’s debut album Channel Orange returns to the list at No. 146, following rumors that he was going to drop a new album on Aug. 5. While the new album didn’t materialize, Channel Orange comes back to the tally with 5,000 units earned during the week (up 40 percent). Channel Orange was last on the chart dated May 18, 2013. Further, Ocean’s total on-demand audio and video streams gained by 35 percent in the week ending Aug. 4 (rising to 7 million).
– Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre – 2001 – No. 195 – The hip-hop icon’s total album sales have now surpassed 15 million sold, according to Nielsen Music. (He crossed the threshold in the week ending July 28.) His biggest selling album is Dr. Dre – 2001 (No. 195 on the latest chart), which has moved 7.9 million copies. His second biggest seller is his debut effort, The Chronic, with 5.9 million sold (including its original release and later reissues and deluxe versions). His third solo studio album, Compton, has sold 535,000. (The remainder of the 15 million is comprised of compilation albums and archival releases like First Round Knockout and Concrete Roots.)
Dr. Dre – 2001 is the fifth biggest selling rap album in the U.S. since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. Ahead of it are 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ (8.4 million), Nelly’s Country Grammar (8.6 million), Eminem’s The Eminem Show (10.7 million) and Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP (11 million).
– Jason Derulo, Platinum Hits – No. 83 – Jason Derulo’s first best-of album, Platinum Hits, starts at No. 83 on the Billboard 200, granting the pop star his fifth entry on the list. The 12 song collection earned 7,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Aug. 4, of which 2,000 were in traditional album sales.
The low-key release is just the third new greatest hits album to debut on the Billboard 200 in 2016, following Paul McCartney’s Pure McCartney (No. 15, July 2) and Daughtry’s It’s Not Over… The Hits So Far (No. 43, March 5). Greatest hits albums have seen less success in recent years as consumers move away from buying hits collections and opt to buy a la carte tracks or create streaming playlists of their favorite hits.
Comparatively, at the same point 10 years ago, there were 18 new greatest hits albums that debuted on the chart between January and Aug. 19, 2006.
As for Derulo’s new effort, it offers up 11 of his previous singles along with one new track, “Kiss the Sky.” The latter tune will be heard in the animated film Storks, due out in theaters on Sept. 23.
All 10 of Derulo’s top 10-charting singles on the Mainstream Top 40 chart are on the set, including his four No. 1s: “Whatcha Say,” “In My Head,” “Talk Dirty” and “Want to Want Me.”
– Brett Eldredge, Illinois – No. 114 – The co-hosts of ABC’s CMA Music Festival (Aug. 3) – Brett Eldredge and Thomas Rhett – both earn gains with their latest albums. Eldredge’s Illinois is up 50 percent in units (to 6,000 for the week), Rhett’s Tangled Up gains by 3 percent (No. 31 with 14,000 units).
– Foreigner, Records – No. 154 – The band’s 1982 greatest hits album is back on the chart for the first time since 1983, thanks to interest driven by a $1.99 sale tag in the Google Play store. (The album re-entered the tally a week ago at No. 147, its first week on the list since June 11, 1983.) On the Catalog Albums chart, it hits a new peak, rising 8-7.