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Eminem Scores Historic 10th No. 1 Album / 1st Week Album Sales Record

Eminem notches his historic 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with his latest release, Music to Be Murdered By. The set debuts atop the tally with 279,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 23, according to Nielsen Music.

Music to Be Murdered By was surprise-released on Jan. 17 via Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records. It’s Eminem’s first album since another surprise release, Kamikaze, which dropped in 2018 and bowed at No. 1.

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). The new Feb. 1-dated chart (where Music to Be Murdered By debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s websites on Jan. 28.

Of Music to Be Murdered By’s total starting sum of 279,000 units, 154,000 are in SEA units, 117,000 are in album sales, and 8,000 are in TEA units. The 154,000 SEA sum equates to 217.6 million on-demand streams for the album’s tracks. That’s the largest streaming week for an album in four months (even counting just audio streams alone), since Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding tallied 220.9 million clicks in its second week of release (chart dated Sept. 28, 2019).

Here’s a look at some of the amazing feats Eminem achieves with his latest No. 1:

One of Only Six Acts With 10 or More No. 1 Albums: Eminem is just the sixth act with at least 10 No. 1 albums. He joins The Beatles (with a record 19), Jay-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen (11), Barbra Streisand (11) and Elvis Presley (10).

Record-Extending 10th No. 1 Debut in a Row: Eminem breaks out of a tie with Kanye West for the most No. 1 debuts in a row on the Billboard 200, as Music to Be Murdered By clocks his 10th consecutive chart-topping arrival. West most recently notched his ninth straight No. 1 debut with Jesus Is King in 2019.

Record-Extending 10th Consecutive No. 1: For both Eminem and West, all of their No. 1s have been consecutive, and all also debuted at No. 1. In turn, Eminem also shakes off a tie with West for the most No. 1 albums in a row.

For both artists, they have only missed No. 1 once in their entire charting history: Eminem with his first entry, 1999’s The Slim Shady LP, and West with his first effort, 2004’s The College Dropout. Both albums debuted and peaked at No. 2. S: Billboard

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