Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is at the top of the Billboard 200 albums list (dated April 20), after debuting at No. 1 a week ago. The album achieved 128,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending April 11 (down 69%), according to Luminate.
With the second week in the top spot, Cowboy Carter has the most weeks at No. 1 of any Beyoncé album since her self-titled collection spent three weeks at No. 1 (its first three weeks on the chart) between December 2013 and January 2014
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(Since her self-titled album, she has topped the charts three more times, with Lemonade [one week at No. 1 in 2016], Renaissance [one week in 2022], and now Cowboy Carter.)
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Cole, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and Benson Boone debuting at Nos. 2, 3, and 6, respectively. The last time three debuts appeared in the top ten was on the chart dated November 25, 2023, when Stray Kids, Chris Stapleton, and Chris Brown released their new albums in the region.
The Billboard 200 chart rates the most popular albums of the week in the United States based on multi-metric consumption measured in equivalent album units, according to Luminate. Album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums are all considered units.
The new chart for April 20, 2024 will be available in its entirety on Billboard’s website beginning April 16.
Cowboy Carter’s second-week sale sum of 128,000 includes 105,500 SEA units 20,500 standard sales of albums (down 88%), & 2,000 TEA sales (down 70%).
Cowboy Carter’s CD and vinyl editions were solely available through Beyoncé’s official webstore for the first two weeks of release, but those physical formats were publicly available to all stores on April 12. (The album has been widely available for digital download since its March 29 release.)
J. Cole’s surprise-release album Might Delete Later debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, earning 115,000 equivalent album units. Of that total, 105,000 SEA units (equivalent to 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 tracks), 9,000 album sales, and 1,000 TEA units. The album was only accessible for streaming or purchase as a digital download.
Might delete. Later was released without warning on April 5 and features collaborations with Gucci Mane, Cam’ron, Bas, Central Cee, Ari Lennox, and Young Dro, among others.
Might Delete Later gained headlines for its Kendrick Lamar diss track “7 Minute Drill,” in which Cole appears to retaliate to Lamar’s supposed disses directed at Cole and Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” Cole officially apologised for publishing “7 Minute Drill” a few days later, stating that it “does not sit right with my spirit.” “7 Minute “Drill” eventually disappeared from Might Delete Later’s online copy on April 12, a single day after its most previous chart’s tracking week ended.
(As of April 14, the song was still accessible in the digital download edition of the set.) “7 Minute Drill” was the most-streamed song on Might Delete Later during its first week.
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Might Delete Later is J. Cole’s seventh album to reach the top two positions on the Billboard 200, following six previous No. 1s from 2011 to 21. He has one additional entry on the list, Forest Hills Drive: Live, which reached No. 71 in 2016.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s fifth top-10 Billboard 200 album, Minisode 3: TOMORROW, arrives at No. 3 with 107,500 equivalent album units. Album sales are 103,500 (making it the album with the highest sales of the week), while SEA units are 4,000 (equal to 5.54 million streaming services. official streaming of the collection’s songs, and TEA units account for a minuscule amount.
The album’s sales were boosted by the availability of 17 collectible CD editions (including special copies sold by Barnes & Noble, Target, and the act’s webstore), each featuring randomised paper products (but with the same audio tracklist).
The Nos. 1-3 titles on the Billboard 200 each earned at least 100,000 equivalent album units, marking the first time as many albums cleared 100,000 in a week since the list dated December 2, 2023. Drake’s For All the Dogs jumped 4-1 that week with 145,000, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) remained at No. 2.
The set’s sequel album, We Still Don’t Trust You, was released on April 12 and will appear on next week’s chart on April 27.
Despite a 4% increase and 72,000 equivalent album units collected, Morgan Wallen’s former number one, One Thing at a Time, falls 3-5.
Benson Boone’s debut full-length studio album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, debuts at No. 6 with 58,000 equivalent album units. This is the singer-songwriter’s first chart entry. SEA units contain 52,000 (equaling 70.21 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales constitute 4,000 (primarily from its digital download, as the set’s only physical availability was a limited release on CD), and TEA units comprise 2,000.
The album was headed by the hit single “Beautiful Things” (the most-streamed song on the compilation), which has spent the last nine weeks inside the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (as of April 13), peaking at number two.
Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts drops 6-9 with 43,000 (down 13%). SZA’s chart-topping SOS slides 9-10, but gains 1% to 40,000 sales.
