ATEEZ lands its first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated July 1) as the Korean pop group’s latest release, The World EP.2: Outlaw, opens atop the tally. The six-song set launches with 101,000 copies sold — the act’s best sales week yet. In total, it’s the fourth top 10-charting set for the eight-member ensemble.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Queens of the Stone Age’s In Times New Roman… debuts at No. 2, while three older albums all surge into the top 10 following their premiere on vinyl: J. Cole’s Born Sinner, Gracie Abrams’ Good Riddance and Lil Peep’s Crybaby.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. The new July 1, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on June 27. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of The World EP.2: Outlaw’s 101,000 copies sold in its first week, physical sales comprise a little over 98,000 (all on CD) and digital album sales comprise the remaining sales.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of The World EP.2: Outlaw was issued in collectible CD packages (21 total, including exclusive editions for Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart, as well as some signed editions), each containing a standard set of branded merchandise items and randomized branded elements (action cards, partner cards, photo cards). Of the album’s sales, 97.5% were on the CD format, with the remainder generated by digital download album purchases. The set was not released on any other retail format (cassette, vinyl, etc.).
The World EP.2: Outlaw is the 10th album to sell at least 100,000 copies in a single week in 2023. Of those 10, seven of them are K-pop titles, with sales largely driven by collectible CD variants.
Queens of the Stone Age start at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with its latest set, In Times New Roman…, bowing with 36,000 copies sold. It’s the fifth top 10-charting effort for the group. Vinyl sales drove the majority of the album’s starting sum, with nearly 21,000 sold on the format (the band’s best week ever on vinyl, bolstered by its availability across seven variants). In Times New Roman… also debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart — its third leader on that tally.
Stray Kids’ former leader 5-STAR: The 3rd Album falls 2-3 on Top Album Sales with 27,000 (down 41%), ENHYPEN’s Dark Blood rises 5-4 with 13,000 (down 34%) and Taylor Swift’s Midnights climbs 7-5 with 11,000 (down 34%).
J. Cole’s chart-topping Born Sinner, released in 2013, returns to the chart for the first time since 2014, as its vinyl release prompts its re-entry at No. 6 with 11,000 sold (up 39,761%) — nearly all from vinyl sales. For its 10th anniversary, the album was pressed on three vinyl variants, including a Target-exclusive edition. On Vinyl Albums, the set debuts at No. 2.
Gracie Abrams’ Good Riddance, which was released in February, jumps back onto Top Album Sales at No. 7 — a new peak — with 10,000 sold (up 3,322%, its best sales week yet; almost entirely from vinyl sales). It was available across five vinyl variants and starts at No. 3 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Lil Peep’s Crybaby, released in 2016, hits Top Album Sales for the first time as its vinyl release prompts its debut at No. 8 with 8,000 sold (up 631%), with 7,000 of that sum on vinyl. It’s the third top 10-charting set for the late Lil Peep, who died in 2017, and all of his chart entries have been posthumous. Crybaby bows at No. 5 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Rounding out the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart is SEVENTEEN’s SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML (climbing 11-9 with 8,000; down 4%) and Swift’s Folklore (13-10 with nearly 8,000; up 6%).
