SuperM Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart With ‘The 1st Mini Album’
K-pop supergroup SuperM debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the act's first effort, 'SuperM: The 1st Mini Album,' enters atop the tally. Plus: Summer Walker and Brantley Gilbert…
K-pop supergroup SuperM debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the act’s first effort, SuperM: The 1st Mini Album, enters atop the tally. The set, which was released via SM/Capitol Records on Oct. 4, launches with 168,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 10, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 164,000 were in album sales.
Elsewhere in the top 10, R&B singer Summer Walker bows at No. 2 with her debut studio album, Over It, and country singer Brantley Gilbert starts at No. 9 with Fire & Brimstone.
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 Oct. 19-dated chart (where SuperM debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s websites on Oct. 15.
SuperM’s existence was announced on Aug. 7, and the act comprises seven members from established pop acts that have had some success already on Billboard’s various charts: one from SHINee, and two each from EXO, NCT 127 and WayV. None of those groups have claimed a top 10 effort on the all-genre Billboard 200, though. (The highest charting album from any of the non-SuperM acts is NCT 127’s NCT #127 We Are Superhuman: The 4th Mini Album, which debuted and peaked at No. 11 earlier this year.)
SuperM’s The 1st Mini Album starts with 168,000 units, and of that sum, 164,000 were in album sales. The rest of the album’s first-week comprised less than 1,000 TEA units, and a little over 3,000 SEA units. The latter sum equates to 4.9 million on-demand audio streams during the tracking week for the seven tracks on the album. (The album has seven tracks in total, but only five distinct songs. The additional two tracks are instrumental versions of songs on the album.)
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SuperM’s handsome start was encouraged mightily by an array of permutations in which to purchase the album, which was likely very appealing to the group’s fans, since K-pop fans are often passionate about buying collectible physical packages of an album. The 1st Mini Album had more than 60 merchandise/album bundles available to purchase through their official web stores, a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with their upcoming arena tour and eight different CD variants of the album (seven with a different cover for each member, along with a group edition). The act also staged a week-long pop-up shop in Los Angeles during street week, where fans could buy the CD (as well as oodles of individual merch items).
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Summer Walker’s debut studio effort, Over It, launches with 134,000 equivalent album units earned — the biggest week for an R&B album by a female artist in over three years. The last R&B album by a woman to notch a bigger week was Beyoncé with Lemonade, which tallied 202,000 units in its third week on the list (May 28, 2016; at No. 2) after previously bowing at No. 1.
Over It’s starting sum of 134,000 units was largely powered by streaming activity, as the set garnered 14,000 album sales, 1,000 TEA units and 119,000 SEA units. The latter figure translates to a big 154.7 million on-demand audio streams for the album’s songs — marking the largest streaming week ever for an R&B album by a woman in terms of on-demand audio streams (surpassing the debut week of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, with 115.2 million). It also scores the second-largest streaming week for an R&B album among all acts (trailing only the debut week of The Weeknd’s Starboy, with 175.2 million).
Previous to the debut of Over It, Walker earned four top 25-charting hits on the Hot R&B Songs chart, including the top five hit “Playing Games.”
A quintet of former No. 1s are next on Billboard 200, as Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding slips 2-3 (108,000 units; down 13%), DaBaby’s Kirk falls 1-4 in its second week (75,000 units; down 49%), Taylor Swift’s Lover is steady at No. 5 (51,000 units; down 11%), Chris Brown’s Indigo bolts 13-6 (39,000 units; up 24% after the album was reissued with bonus tracks) and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is a non-mover at No. 7 (38,000 units; down 4%).
Kevin Gates’ I’m Him falls 4-8 in its second week, tallying just over 36,000 equivalent album units (down 52%).
Brantley Gilbert earns his fourth top 10 effort, as Fire & Brimstone debuts at No. 9 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 28,000 were in album sales. He previously visited the top 10 with The Devil Don’t Sleep (No. 2 in 2017), Just As I Am (No. 2, 2014) and Halfway to Heaven (No. 4, 2011).
Rounding out the new top 10 is Young Thug’s So Much Fun, at No. 10. The former No. 1 dips 8-10 in its eighth week on the list, with 35,000 units (down 10%).
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