MUMBAI: Taylor Swift’s Folklore holds atop the Billboard 200 albums chart for a second week, earning 135,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 6, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The set is down 84% from its opening of 846,000 units – the biggest week for any album 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 Aug. 15-dated chart (where Folklore remains at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Aug. 11.
Of Folklore’s second-week units, SEA units comprise 102,000 (down 53%), album sales total 30,000 (down 95%) and TEA units equal 3,000 (down 81%).
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A pair of former No. 1s are next on the Billboard 200, as Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon climbs 4-2 with 97,000 equivalent album units (though down 9%) and Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die is steady at No. 3 with 88,000 units (down 18%). The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical rises one spot to No. 4 with 66,000 units (down 7%). Lil Baby’s former leader My Turn ascends 7-5 with 50,000 units (down 5%).
DaBaby’s Blame It on Baby returns to the top 10, skipping 11-6 with 43,000 equivalent album units (up 47%), after the album was reissued on Aug. 4 with 10 additional tracks. The LP debuted at No. 1 on the May 2-dated tally.
Blame It on Baby is one of at least 10 R&B and hip-hop albums released in 2020 that have been reissued in a deluxe format with additional tracks. It most recently follows reissues of Lil Durk’s Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 (released May 8; reissued June 26 with seven additional tracks), Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon (released July 3; reissued July 20 with 15 additional tracks), Jhené Aiko’s Chilombo (released March 6; reissued July 17 with nine additional tracks) and Gunna’s Wunna (released on May 22; reissued on July 24 with eight additional tracks).
Back on the new Billboard 200, Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Fine Line captures its third straight weekly unit gain, as it climbs 10-7 with 39,000 equivalent album units earned (up 26%). The rise is concurrent with focused promotion around the album’s current hit single “Watermelon Sugar.”
Gunna’s previous leader Wunna slips 6-8 with just under 39,000 equivalent album units (down 42%) and Post Malone’s former No. 1 Hollywood’s Bleeding is a non-mover at No. 9 with 33,000 units (down 1%).
Beyoncé closes out the top 10, as her album The Lion King: The Gift re-enters the chart at No. 10 with 27,000 equivalent album units earned (up 1,462%). The album originally debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Aug. 3, 2019-dated chart.
The Lion King: The Gift surges back onto the chart following the July 31 premiere of Black Is King on Disney+.
Black Is King is based on the music of The Lion King: The Gift, and was written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé.
The Lion King: The Gift album also benefits from its reissue on July 31 with three additional tracks. The Lion King: The Gift album was first released on July 19, 2019, as a companion project to last year’s film remake of The Lion King (in which Beyoncé voices the character Nala).
