Playboi Carti lands his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his Christmas Day release Whole Lotta Red debuts atop the tally. The rapper’s second studio album starts with 100,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 31, 2020, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
Meanwhile, Lil Durk’s The Voice jumps 46-3 following its first full tracking week, after its debut a week ago from just one day of activity, as the set dropped on Dec. 24 (the final day of the previous tracking week). It matches his previous chart high, achieved with Just Cause Y’all Waited 2, released earlier in 2020.
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 Jan. 9, 2021-dated chart (where Whole Lotta Red bows at to No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Jan. 5. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Whole Lotta Red’s 100,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending Dec. 31, SEA units comprise 90,000 (equaling 126.43 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs), album sales comprise 10,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible number.
Whole Lotta Red, which was first announced in 2018, boasts 24 tracks and guest stars Future, Kid Cudi and Kanye West (who also executive-produced the set). The album is Playboi Carti’s second studio effort, following 2018’s Die Lit, which debuted and peaked at No. 3. So far, it has earned 1.1 million equivalent album units and net 1.67 billion on-demand streams for its tracks.
All told, Whole Lotta Red is the 24-year-old’s third charting set, as he also notched a self-titled mixtape in 2017, which reached No. 12. Earlier in 2020, Playboi Carti logged his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as the featured artist on Drake’s “Pain 1993,” which topped out at No. 7 in May. The cut also hit No. 4 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 6 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
After two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Taylor Swift’s Evermore falls to No. 2 with 71,000 equivalent album units earned (down 58%).
Lil Durk’s The Voice surges from No. 46 to No. 3 with 66,000 equivalent album units earned (up 191%) following its first full tracking week. It debuted on the chart a week ago with 23,000 units from just one day of activity, as it was released on Dec. 24, the final day of the previous tracking frame. The Voice is the rapper’s third top 10 effort and equals his chart high, achieved with his previous studio set, Just Cause Y’all Waited 2. It peaked at No. 2 on the July 1, 2020-dated chart following its deluxe reissue with seven bonus tracks.
Pop Smoke’s former leader Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon climbs 11-4 with 46,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%), after spending its first week outside the top 10 since its debut at No. 1 on the July 18, 2020-dated chart. It’s one of a number of albums that bounce back to the top 10 – even with a decline in units – now that Christmas albums have departed the region completely. A week ago, a record-tying six holiday sets dotted the top 10.
Ariana Grande’s former No. 1 Positions steps 14-5 with 38,000 equivalent album units earned (down 13%), Swift’s previous leader Folklore rises 8-6 with 35,000 units (down 33%) and Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News vaults 17-7 with 34,000 units (down 9%).
A trio of former No. 1s closes out the top 10: Luke Combs’ What You See Is What You Get climbs 19-8 with nearly 34,000 units (down 5%), Bad Bunny’s El Ultimo Tour del Mundo rises 16-9 with almost 34,000 units (down 12%) and Eminem’s Music to Be Murdered By falls 3-10 with 33,000 units (down 65%).
