Junior H celebrates his highest debut on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart with the No. 2 launch of $ad Boyz 4 Life II on the list dated Oct. 21. His eighth studio album starts with 32,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Luminate.
Among regional Mexican albums that debuted with a full seven days of tracking in its first charting week, 4 Life II logs one of the top three biggest weeks, by units, of 2023. It also posts the second-highest debut position among regional Mexican titles this year.
The only regional Mexican album to debut on the chart with a bigger unit total, and at a higher rank, in 2023 was Eslabon Armado’s Desvelado, which launched at No. 1 in May with 44,000 units (May 13-dated chart). Peso Pluma’s Génesis is in the mix as well, as it debuted on the chart dated July 1 at No. 35 from only one day of activity, and then soared to No. 1 the following week, after its first week of chart activity, earning 73,000 units (the biggest week ever, by units, for a regional Mexican album).
Of 4 Life II’s 17-track set’s first-week sum, 31,000 units derive from streaming, equaling 43.12 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs, while the remainder balance is a negligible sum from album sales and track-equivalent album units.
Fifth Top 10: 4 Life II gives Junior H his fifth top 10 on Top Latin Albums, with Atrapado En Un Sueño leading the pack. The corridos tumbados singer-songwriter’s first entry on the Latin albums ranking debuted at No. 5 in April 2020, and became his longest-charting effort, encompassing a 123-week run. Cruisin’ With Junior H followed (No. 10 high, Sept. 2020), $ad Boyz 4 Life (No. 5, Feb. 2021), and Mi Vida En Un Cigarro 2 (No. 4, Feb. 2022).
$ad Boyz 4 Life II, released Oct. 5, is Junior H’s sixth studio album via Rancho Humilde/Warner Latina (two earlier projects were released independently and via the Humilde family only). The set bests its predecessor $ad Boyz 4 Life, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 in 2021.
Second-Most Simultaneous Entries on Hot Latin Songs: As 4 Life II arrives, it sparks nine debuts on Hot Latin Songs. With those new recruits plus two other collabs, Junior H places 12 concurrent songs on the multi-metric tally -which blends airplay, streaming and digital data- the second-most after Peso Pluma, who has placed 12 or more throughout multiple charts in 2023.
Here’s a recap of all 12 of Junior H’s song on this week’s Hot Latin Songs chart:
Position, Title, Artists
No. 3, “Lady Gaga,” with Peso Pluma & Gabito Ballesteros
No. 12, “Lloro” (debut)
No. 14, “Bipolar,” with Peso Pluma & Jasiel Nuñez
No. 19, “$ad Boyz II” (debut)
No. 26, “Rockstar” (debut)
No. 31, “La Cherry” (debut)
No. 36, “La Serpiente” (debut)
No. 40, “Las Noches” (debut)
No. 43, “Tres Botellas” (debut)
No. 45, “Miéntele” (debut)
No. 47, “Miles de Rosas” (debut)
Beyond its No. 2 debut on Top Latin Albums 4 Life II gives the Sad Boyz movement creator his highest charting title on the overall Billboard 200 among three entries, at No. 14. Plus, it likewise launches at No. 2 on Regional Mexican Albums.
