“Invasion” launches with second-largest week of 2018, and the biggest streaming week ever for an album by a woman.
Cardi B blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy.
The set, which was released on April 6 through The KSR Group/Atlantic Records, earned 255,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 12, according to Nielsen Music. That’s the second-biggest week of 2018, trailing only the arrival of Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods, which bowed with 293,000 units on the Feb. 17-dated chart.
Of Invasion’s total unit bow, 103,000 were in traditional album sales — the biggest sales week for an R&B or hip-hop album in 2018.
Cardi B becomes the fifth female rapper to top the Billboard 200 albums chart. She follows Nicki Minaj (with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded in 2012 and Pink Friday in 2011), Eve (Let There Be Eve… Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, 1999), Foxy Brown (Chyna Doll in 1999 and the collaborative album The Firm in 1997, with Nas, AZ and Nature) and Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998).
— Invasion of Privacy bows with the largest on-demand audio streaming week ever for an album by a woman. Invasion launches with 255,000 equivalent album units overall, and of that sum, 135,000 were in SEA units. That translates to 202.6 million streams of the tracks on the album during its debut frame. Invasion easily bests the previous record-holder, Beyoncé’s Lemonade, which launched with 77,000 SEA units (115.2 million streams) on the May 14, 2016-dated chart.
— Invasion logs the biggest streaming week for a debut studio album, trumping the arrival of Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2, which bowed with 100,000 SEA units (150.6 million streams) on the Sept 16, 2017-dated list.
Second-biggest streaming week for an album in 2018: Invasion nabs the second-largest streaming week for an album this year, behind only the debut of Migos’ Culture II (149,000 SEA units; 224.6 million on-demand audio streams).
— Seventh-largest streaming week for an album ever: Invasion’s big streaming start marks the seventh-largest streaming week for an album, and the fifth biggest debut ever. Drake’s More Life continues to hold the record for the largest streaming frame overall, when it claimed 257,000 SEA units in its opening frame (chart dated April 8, 2017), equaling 384.8 million on-demand audio streams.
— Invasion’s start of 255,000 units is the second-biggest week overall for an album in 2018, trailing only the bow of Timberlake’s Man of the Woods (293,000 units). Further, Invasion notches the largest week for an R&B or hip-hop album since Eminem’s Revival started with 267,000 units in the tracking week ending Dec. 21, 2017; and the biggest week for an R&B or hip-hop album by a woman since Beyoncé’s Lemonade tallied 321,000 units in its second week on the list (May 21, 2016-dated chart).
Invasion’s solid album sales figure of 103,000 is notable, considering many hip-hop albums by newer artists tend to be largely driven by streams and have relatively little album sales. Invasion has the largest sales week for an R&B or hip-hop album since Eminem’s Revival bowed with 197,000 copies sold.
Further, Invasion was only available to purchase as a digital album. It’s the fifth album to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2018 that was initially only available as a digital download and via streaming services (following The Weeknd’s My Dear Melancholy, XXXTENTACION’s ?, Logic’s Bobby Tarantino II and Migos’ Culture II).
Source: Billboard
