12 of Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ Tracks Are on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart

The wide release of Kanye West‘s The Life of Pablo to streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, April 1, causes 11 of the set’s tracks to debut on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (dated April 23), joining previously charting TLOP song “Famous.” Eight of Pablo’s cuts additionally arrive on the Billboard Hot 100.

As previously reported, the rapper’s set opens at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 94,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending April 7, according to Nielsen Music. The Life of Pablo is the first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 where the majority (70 percent, in fact) of its units were generated by streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Its 66,000 SEA units equates to just over 99 million U.S. streams for the album’s tracks in the week ending April 7. (Each SEA unit is equal to 1,500 streams from an album.)

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Pablo was initially released on Feb. 14 via Tidal’s streaming service, and briefly as a commercial download via West’s official website. The set’s sales and its streams through Tidal were not reported to Nielsen Music, whose data powers the Billboard 200, and it was thus unable to chart. On April 1, the album became widely available to other streaming services and went on sale via West and Tidal’s sites. The streams and sales of the wide release were reported to Nielsen Music, enabling the chart arrival of the album and its tracks.

With a full week of U.S. streams reported to Nielsen Music, 11 Pablo songs debut on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, joining the already-charting “Famous,” which vaults 43-13. On the Hot 100, eight songs from the set bow. With the influx of Pablo tracks on the charts, West sets a new personal record for his most concurrently-charting tracks on both lists.

West’s prior high for simultaneous titles on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs was nine, following the release of Yeezus in 2013. His previous high on the Hot 100 was on the Sept. 3, 2011 list, when he had five tracks on the tally.

Notably, Pablo‘s tracks are not available for sale à la carte, therefore the debuts are powered almost fully by streams, with minimal airplay also aiding their rankings. The new arrivals drew between 3.9 million and 12.2 million domestic streams in the week ending April 7. Across the board, Spotify was the source of most of the songs’ plays. “Famous” leads 12.2 million U.S. streams, with Spotify counting for exactly 50 percent of total plays. Runner-up “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” tallied a similar 47 percent, of its overall 11.9 million plays, from Spotify.

“Famous” and “Father” additionally start at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively, on the Streaming Songs chart.

Here are West’s 12 titles on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs this week:

Position, Title, Weekly U.S. streams

No. 13, “Famous” (up from No. 43), 12.2 million
No. 14, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1,” 11.9 million
No. 18, “Pt. 2,” 9.3 million
No. 22, “Ultralight Beam,” 7.8 million
No. 24, “Waves,” 7.2 million
No. 30, “FML,” 6.1 million
No. 34, “Real Friends,” 5.4 million
No. 36, “Feedback,” 5.3 million
No. 39, “Wolves,” 5.2 million
No. 41, “Highlights,” 4.7 million
No. 43, “Freestyle 4,” 4.2 million
No. 48, “I Love Kanye,” 3.9 million

And, here are West’s Hot 100 debuts:
No. 34, “Famous”
No. 37, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1”
No. 54, “Pt. 2”
No. 67, “Ultralight Beam”
No. 71, “Waves”
No. 84, “FML”
No. 92, “Real Friends”
No. 99, “Feedback”

At radio, “Famous” finds its footing, earning the top debut on three airplay charts: Rap Airplay (No. 22), Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop (No. 34) and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (No. 40). The track also scores a No. 38 entry on Rhythmic Songs.

West soars 66-3 on the Billboard Artist 100, which measures artist activity (blending sales, airplay, streaming, and social media fan interaction to rank the popularity of artists across all genres). He reaches a new peak, and the top 10 for the first time, in his 43rd week on the chart.