NewJeans Debut at No. 1 on Albums Chart While ‘Barbie the Album’ Lands at No. 2 With Only 500-Unit Difference

Thania Garcia
·5 min read
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NewJeans’ latest release, the six-song EP “Get Up,” becomes the Korean all-female group’s first No. 1 and first-ever entry on the albums chart with the equivalent of 126,500 albums sold in the United States. With 500 more units, the soundtrack to Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” blockbuster would’ve logged a tie for the top slot.

“Barbie the Album” — fueled by the success of singles including Nicki Minaj’s and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World,” featuring original “Barbie Girl”-makers Aqua, and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” — opened with 126,000 units as the biggest opening week (in units sold) for a full-length theatrical film soundtrack in more than four years, according to a report by Billboard.

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The last soundtrack to score a higher tally was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” which landed at No. 1 with 129,000 units in 2019. It also earned 93.81 million streams — the highest opening numbers for a soundtrack in over five years, since “Black Panther” launched with 139 million in 2018.

“Barbie” mania also translated in vinyl sales as the album opened with the biggest numbers for a theatrical film soundtrack (33,000) since Luminate, the data company behind Billboard’s charts, began electronically tracking these numbers in 1991.

NewJeans — comprised of Danielle, Haerin, Hanni, Hyein and Minji — also make history as the second all-female group to launch a No. 1 album onto the Billboard 200 in the last 15 years (Blackpink was the other group).

Elsewhere, Morgan Wallen’s former leader “One Thing at a Time” recedes to No. 3 while Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” is at No. 4. Wallen reappears on the top 10 of the list with “Dangerous: the Double Album” at No. 7 while Swift reappears at No. 6 and No. 10 for “Midnights” and “Lover,” respectively.

Peso Pluma” “Génesis” drops to No. 5 from its previous No. 3 peak and Greta Van Fleet achieves their third top 10 album debut with “Starcatcher” at No. 8 with 45,500 album units and nearly six million streams. SZA’s “SOS” continues to be a mainstay on the chart at No. 9.

After a few controversy-fueled weeks in the country music world, three leaders in the genre occupy the top three positions on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for the first time in the chart’s 60-plus year history. Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” leads the list at No. 1 after the polarizing hit found itself at the center of numerous think pieces thanks to its politically charged music video that was released months after the single originally debuted in May. The original video featured images and video footage of violent protests and riots, including scenes from a Black Lives Matter protest and a burning American flag. It has since been edited.

Aldean addressed the controversy on Twitter writing, “Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”

The single, Aldean’s first No. 1 on the singles chart, arrived on streaming platforms two months ago and didn’t appear in the top 10 of the songs chart until the release of his music video launched it to No. 2 last week. Its uptick in streams and downloads was undeniably fueled by the attention the video — which currently has over 24 million views on YouTube — was garnering from both critics and fans alike.

“Small Town” leads the latest singles list with nearly 31 million streams (the music video accounted for 29% of that sum)– that’s an increase of 165% since last week, according to data from Luminate. It also experienced an impressive bump in radio airplay, logging 8.8 million impressions in the latest tracking week.

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” is at No. 2 and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” is at No. 3 as country music continues surging in consumption across the U.S. Gunna’s “Fukumean” hits a new peak at No. 4 and Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” holds at No. 5. Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” is at No. 6 while Travis Scott, Bad Bunny and the Weeknd’s “K Pop” is at No. 7 with 19.4 million streams and 35,000 sold in its first week. It was available as a vinyl single and on CD. The track was the only single off Scott’s long-awaited “Utopia” album which included features from Beyonce, Drake, the Weeknd, Bad Bunny, SZA, Kanye West, Future, Pharrell, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Dave Chappelle, Playboi Carti, Bon Iver, Swae Lee, Kid Cudi and James Blake. It’s expected to make a huge entrance on the Billboard 200 in the following week.

Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World” with Aqua returns to the Hot 100’s top 10 at No. 8 following the film’s worldwide premiere on July 21. Several other tracks from the album appear on the list including “I’m Just Ken” which sits at No. 87 as actor Ryan Gosling’s (who plays Ken in the film) first-ever appearance on the Hot 100. Jung Kook’s “Seven,” featuring Latto, is at No. 9 and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” closes out the top 10.

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