Thank you to everybody who made The Life of Pablo the number 1 album in the world!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 9, 2016
After being away from the charts due to its TIDAL exclusivity, Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo debuts atop the Billboard 200 this week.
Thanks to 94,000 equivalent album units (28,000 in pure sales), ‘Ye also made history in the process. Pablo becomes the first album on the Billboard 200 to earn a top slot with a majority of its sales—in this case 70 percent—coming as streaming equivalent albums (SEA). According to Billboard, the LP’s 66,000 SEA is equal to about 99 million streams of album tracks for the week ending April 7 in the U.S. alone.
Pablo was released as a TIDAL exclusive on Feb. 13 and only briefly available for purchase through Yeezy’s own site. However, its numbers weren’t released to Nielsen Music so the figures weren’t counted towards Billboard chart info. However, that changed on April 1 when it became available on other streaming platforms and for sale through Kanye’s site and TIDAL.
Pablo’s 28,000 pure album sales includes copies purchased through Kanye’s Madison Square Garden extravaganza and movie theater ticket sales. Those weren’t available to redeem until this week.
It’s also an important moment because it marks Kanye’s seventh straight No. 1 album following 2013’s Yeezus, 2011’s Watch the Throne with Jay Z, 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak, 2007’s Graduation, and 2005’s Late Registration. His debut album, The College Dropout, peaked at No. 2 when it dropped in 2004.
Elsewhere on the Billboard 200, Big Sean and Jhené Aiko’s duo TWENTY88 debuts at No. 5 with their self-titled project, which earned 49,000 units (45,000 in pure album sales).
Rihanna’s ANTI drops 3-6, ZAYN’s Mind of Mine falls 1-7, Justin Bieber’s Purpose slides 4-8, and Adele’s 25 slips 5-9.
BILLBOARD 200 TOP 10 CHART…
1. Kanye West – The Life of Pablo – 94,000
2. Chris Stapleton – Traveller – 73,000
3. Lukas Graham – Lukas Graham – 59,000
4. Weezer – White Album – 49,000
5. TWENTY88 – TWENTY88 – 49,000
6. Rihanna – ANTI – 48,000
7. ZAYN – Mind of Mine – 44,000
8. Justin Bieber – Purpose – 41,000
9. Adele – 25 – 36,000
10. Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface – 30,000
