• A$AP Rocky No. 1 on Billboard 200 Again; Boosie BadAzz, Hillsong United Follow

    Another hip-hop performer takes the top spot on the Billboard 200 with a surprise album as A$AP Rocky and At.Long.Last.A$AP debuts with 146,000 equivalent units in its first week. That may seem like more than his last album, Long.Live.A$AP (which also debuted at no. 1), however that album opened with 139,000 actual copies sold, while the new Billboard metrics also take single downloads and streams into consideration. In that light, A.L.L.A. only sold 117,000 copies. Of course, week two could also be strong due to the surprise nature of the release.

  • Twenty One Pilots Top Billboard 200, Taylor Swift Recovers Big Time Post-Awards

    Yet another new performer to top the Billboard 200 as Twenty One Pilots takes the top spot with Blurryface, which sold more than 147,000 equivalent units. That makes the Columbus, OH-based alt group the seventh act to top the charts for the first time during 2015 (including bigger bands such as Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons).

  • Mumford & Sons Top Billboard 200, 'Fifty Shades' Gets Mother's Day Boost

    Mumford & Sons remains a rock band to beat on the Billboard 200, gathering its second no. 1 record with Wilder Mind. Although the band's original alternative fan base has raised an eyebrow at the use of electric guitars on the new set, sales still came out to 249,000-trailing only Drake and Kendrick Lamar for biggest debut of 2015 thus far. Although nothing to frown at, it's still a relatively low sales figure for Mumford, which sold 600,000 copies of Babel when that album dropped during 2012.

  • Zac Brown Band Tops Billboard 200 Third Time with 'Jekyll + Hyde'

    The Zac Brown Band found itself on top of the Billboard 200 for the third time with its new album 'Jekyll + Hyde.' Although it wasn't the group's biggest sales week (that goes to its last record, 'Uncaged') but it still managed to move 228,000 equivalent albums. The band has also been busy away from album sales, topping both the Country Airplay Chart and the Mainstream Rock Songs charts with different songs from the album. The only other act in Nielsen history to hit that mark was Bon Jovi.

  • Alabama Shakes and Yelawolf Top Albums Charts, Representing Home State

    Alabama Shakes started high up on the Billboard 200 and now they do the same on the Albums charts thanks to the high-volume of full records sold by the band. The band's Sound & Color becomes the first independent label record to top the chart during 2015, thanks to more than 87,000 units moved...making up more than 90 percent of its Billboard 200 total.

  • Alabama Shakes and 'Sound & Color' Becomes First Independent Release Atop Billboard 200 during 2015

    Alabama Shakes and 'Sound & Color' brought an air of independence to the Billboard 200 this week, as the album became the first independent label (ATO) release to top the charts during 2015. It was easily the band's bestselling week ever, moving 96,000 equivalent copies during its first week. Yet it seemed almost inevitable: The band got to no. 6 with its previous release, 'Boys & Girls', but nearly a year after it debuted. Listeners caught on to the band just a hair too late, and made up for it this time around.

  • The Latino Audience and 'Furious 7': Did Romeo Santos Inspire Fans to See Record-Breaking Film?

    Billboard might be stretching things a bit when they suggest that Romeo Santos' 10-second speaking part during Furious 7 had a major impact on Latin American audiences attending the film...but they were certainly on-point in noting the trend. More than 37 percent of the tickets sold to the record-breaking film have been purchased by Latin viewers, compared to 25 percent by Caucasians and 24 percent by African-Americans.

  • 'Handwritten' and Shawn Mendes Youngest Performer Since Justin Bieber to Top Billboard 200

    We may be witnessing the emergence of the next big young superstar as Shawn Mendes topped the Billboard 200 this week with his debut LP Handwritten. He becomes the youngest performer to top the chart since 2010, when Justin Bieber also did it at the age of 16 (albeit six months younger than Mendes). What makes Mendes' accomplishment more impressive is that he did so without a single on the Billboard charts, drawing almost entirely from hype built as a Vine star (and as an opener for Taylor Swift on tour). He moved 119,000 copies of his debut.

  • Wale, Ludacris and Kendrick Lamar Keep Hip-Hop in Top Three Spots of Billboard Albums Chart

    Wale, Ludacris and Kendrick Lamar helped ensure that hip-hop took the top three spots on the Album Sales Chart for the second week in a row. Wale, who was also no. 1 on the Billboard 200, sold 90,500 copies of his new record The Album About Nothing. Ludacris got a boost from the strict album sales format of this chart (he placed no. 3 due to stream numbers helping the Furious 7 soundtrack on the 200) and placed no. 2 with Ludaversal, selling 59,000 copies of his new album. Kendrick Lamar was at no. 1 for two weeks with To Pimp A Butterfly but he'll settle for no. 3 this week after selling another 52,500 copies.
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