DMX’s greatest hits compilation The Best of DMX soars from No. 73 (its prior peak) to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart following the rapper’s death on Friday, April 9.
The set earned 77,000 equivalent album units (up 544%) in the U.S. in the week ending April 15, according to MRC Data.
Plus, two of DMX’s former No. 1 albums re-enter the chart — It’s Dark and Hell is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood.
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). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 24, 2021-dated chart (where The Best of DMX jumps to No. 2) will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on April 20. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of The Best of DMX’s 77,000 units earned for the week, 59,000 comprise SEA units (up 508%, equaling 88.56 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs), 9,000 comprise album sales (up 733%) and 9,000 comprise TEA units (up 666%).
The 21-track Best of DMX includes such hit singles as “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Party Up (Up in Here)” and “X Gon’ Give It to Ya.” The Best of DMX marks the late star’s highest-charting album, and first top 10, since 2006’s Year of the Dog… Again debuted and peaked at No. 2. In total, The Best of DMX marks his seventh top 10 album, as he also opened his chart career with five consecutive No. 1s between 1998 and 2003.
DMX has two more albums on the latest Billboard 200, as his former No. 1s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, from 1998 (No. 46; 14,000 equivalent album units, up 458%), and Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood, from 1999 (No. 107; 9,000 units, up 469%) re-enter the list.
His top five most-streamed songs in the U.S. in the week ending April 15 were “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” (16.44 million), “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” (10.19 million), “Slippin’” (9.36 million), “Party Up (Up In Here)” (8.87 million) and “What These Bitches Want,” featuring Sisqo (7.04 million).
Here’s a look at the increases DMX’s catalog of songs and albums have made in the last three weeks in the U.S., following his hospitalization on April 2 and death on April 9.
Week Ending April 15
On-Demand Song Streams (Audio and Video): 131.03 million (up 499% compared to previous week)
Song Sales: 109,000 (up 640%)
Album Sales: 22,300 (up 574%)
Week Ending April 8
On-Demand Song Streams (Audio and Video): 21.89 million (up 240%)
Song Sales: 14,700 (up 669%)
Album Sales: 3,300 (up 1,095%)
Week Ending April 1
On-Demand Song Streams (Audio and Video): 6.44 million
Song Sales: 1,900
Album Sales: 300
