Pusha T Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With ‘It’s Almost Dry’
Pusha T scores his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as It’s Almost Dry debuts atop the list dated May 7. It earned 55,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 28, according to Luminate. Streaming activity comprised 83% of the hip-hop album’s first-week unit total.
It’s Almost Dry is Pusha T’s fourth studio album and his third top 10 on the Billboard 200, following Daytona (No. 3 in 2018) and My Name Is My Name (No. 4 in 2013).
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Also in the top 10, Jason Aldean lands his 10th top 10 effort, as Georgia bows at No. 8.
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, compiled by Luminate. 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 May 7, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 3. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of It’s Almost Dry’s 55,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 45,500 (equating to 59.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 tracks), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 500.
Pusha T announced the album in early April, but didn’t unveil a release date until April 18, just a few days before it dropped on April 22. The album features guest turns from Clipse, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Labrinth, Lil Uzi Vert, Malice, Nigo, Don Toliver, Pharrell Williams and Ye (previously known as Kanye West). The latter two also were the main producers on the set, with Ye producing six tracks and Williams helming seven. (They share producer credit on the song “Rock n Roll,” featuring Ye and Kid Cudi.)
It’s Almost Dry has a relatively short tracklist for a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 — at least in recent times. With only 12 tracks on its standard streaming and digital edition, it’s the second-shortest No. 1 album of 2022 by track count. Only Stray Kids’ seven-track Oddinary effort has had a shorter tracklist among No. 1 albums this year. (Oddinary’s No. 1 debut on the April 2 chart was overwhelmingly powered by CD album sales, whereas It’s Almost Dry was streaming-powered, as most No. 1 rap titles tend to be.) Before Stray Kids and Pusha T, the last No. 1 with 12 or fewer tracks was Adele’s 30, which has 12 songs on its standard edition; that album spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1 (Dec. 4, 2021-Jan. 8, 2022 charts). 30 was also available upon its release in a 15-track deluxe edition on a Target-exclusive CD.
The last rap album to go to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 12 tracks or less was J. Cole’s 12-track The Off-Season, which debuted at No. 1 on the May 29, 2021, chart with 282,000 equivalent album units. Of that sum, SEA units comprised 243,000 (equaling 325.05 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks), album sales comprised 37,000 and TEA units comprised 2,000.
Meanwhile, It’s Almost Dry’s starting sum of 55,000 units is the lowest for a No. 1-debuting album since NF’s Perception bowed at No. 1 on the Oct. 28, 2017, chart with about 100 fewer units. It’s Almost Dry has the second-lowest unit sum for any album at No. 1 in the last two years; the only smaller week at No. 1 in that span came when Lil Durk’s 7220 returned to No. 1 for a second nonconsecutive week, two weeks ago, on the April 23, 2022, chart, with 47,000 units.
A quartet of former No. 1s is next on the Billboard 200, as Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover at No. 2 (51,000 equivalent album units; up 1%), Lil Durk’s 7220 is steady at No. 3 (39,000 units; down 9%), Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour rises 5-4 (36,000 units; up less than 1%) and the Encanto soundtrack falls 4-5 (35,000 units; down 12%). Doja Cat’s Planet Her ascends 7-6 (just over 30,000 units; up 2%) and Drake’s chart-topping Certified Lover Boy dips 6-7 (nearly 30,000 units; up 1%).
Jason Aldean collects his 10th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as Georgia debuts at No. 8. The set starts with 26,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 13,000; SEA units comprise 12,000 (equating to 15.4 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 15 tracks) and TEA units comprise 1,000. Georgia is the second of Aldean’s two-part album project, which began with Macon, released last year. The latter also debuted (and peaked) at No. 8 on the Nov. 27, 2021-dated chart. Every charting album Aldean has released since 2007’s Relentless has debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard 200.
Gunna’s former leader DS4Ever is a non-mover at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 (23,000 equivalent album units earned; down 3%) and Lil Baby’s chart-topping My Turn is stationary at No. 10 (22,000 units; up 6%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes an exhaustive and thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data, removing any suspicious or unverifiable activity using established criteria before final chart calculations are made and published. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious and unverifiable is disqualified prior to the final calculation.
