Kanye West ties Eminem record with ninth consecutive No. 1 album

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rapper and producer Kanye West returns to a familiar spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as his latest release, "Jesus Is King", debuts at No. 1. It’s his record-tying ninth consecutive debut at No. 1, matching Eminem’s still-active streak for the longest in the chart’s history, Billboard says.

"Jesus Is King" was released on Oct. 25 via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Recordings and earned 264,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 31, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 109,000 were in album sales, while the rest was powered largely by streaming activity.

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 are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Nov. 9-dated chart (where "Jesus Is King" bows to No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's websites on Nov. 5.

Of "Jesus Is King"’s total unit start of 264,000, album sales comprise 109,000, TEA units equal 3,000 and SEA units total 151,000. The latter sum translates to 196.9 million on-demand audio streams for the album’s 11 tracks.

"Jesus Is King" continues a remarkable streak on the Billboard 200 for West. The set marks his record-tying ninth straight album to debut at No. 1; the entirety of his charting efforts from 2005 through 2019 have opened in the top slot. His only album to miss No. 1 was his debut effort, 2004’s "The College Dropout", which debuted and peaked at No. 2.

West ties Eminem for the most consecutive No. 1 debuts, as the latter has entered at No. 1 with his last nine releases -- from 2000’s "The Marshall Mathers" LP through 2018’s "Kamikaze". Like West, Eminem has also only missed the No. 1 position once, also with his debut charting effort, 1999’s "The Slim Shady" LP, which debuted and peaked at No. 2.

Among all acts, Jay-Z has the most debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with 14 -- but they were not consecutive.