El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico adds a 20th top 10 to its Billboard Tropical Albums chart ranking thanks to De Trulla Con El Combo, which launches at No. 7 on the Dec. 11-dated survey.
The band’s first Christmas album without an accompanying act since 1985’s La Fiesta de Pilito arrives with a little over 1,000 equivalent album units earned, mostly stemming from traditional album sales, in the week ending Dec. 2, according to MRC Data. While La Fiesta did not enter the charts, one other Christmas set granted the ensemble a No. 1: Así Es Nuestra Navidad, with Gilberto Santa Rosa (two weeks atop Tropical Albums in 2005).
De Trulla was released Nov. 26 via Rimas and was produced by Willie Sotelo under the musical direction of Rafael Ithier. It trails El Gran Combo’s only other top 10 in 2021, the No. 3 peaking En Cuarentena, the group’s first top 10 since Alunizando in 2016 (No. 1 for three weeks).
As the set bows at No. 7, the salsa orchestra captures its 20th top 10 and ties with Tito Nieves for the third-most top 10s, just behind Gilberto Santa Rosa’s 33 top 10s and Victor Manuelle’s 22.
The set was preceded by one track on Tropical Airplay: “No Hay,” which peaked at No. 10 on chart dated Dec. 4.
Limi-T 21 Scores Highest Tropical Airplay Debut Since 1995: Elsewhere on Tropical Airplay, Limi-T 21 clocks its 18th top 10 as “La Tristeza Pa’ Fuera!” debuts at No. 8. It’s the highest start in over 26 years since the Puerto Rican act scored its first top 10 in its first try with “Eres Mi Chica” in 1995 (No. 7 debut, peaked at No. 3).
“La Tristeza Pa’ Fuera” starts in the upper tier with 2 million audience impressions earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 5. It concurrently earns the merengue trio its highest ranked title since “Alegría Pa’l Pueblo,” featuring Tito El Bambino (No. 4 high, 2016).
