For a third consecutive week, Rihanna‘s dancehall inspired “Work,” which features Drake, is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 once again. Rihanna is the only artist ever to have a single reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive albums, and she’s showing off the strength of her latest reign with both “Work” and ANTI, which is still in the Billboard 200’s Top 5, at #3 this week, behind Adele‘s 25 and The 1975‘s new album, which debuted at #1 this week.
Other notables on the Hot 100 are ZAYN Malik, who didn’t quite repeat as a #1 debut, but still made an impressive landing at #59 with his new single, “It’s You,” in its first week of chart eligibility. All of this chart action can only mean that Malik’s debut album, Mind of Mine, which drops on March 25, will likely perform well at retailers, making his departure from One Direction quite full circle. Ty Dolla $ign‘s landed the highest chart position of his career thanks to his feature on Fifth Harmony‘s “Work From Home,” which debuts at #12 this week, and will likely crawl higher once the popularity for the corresponding music video increases.
Also, as expected, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis made a Top 5 debut with This Unruly Mess I’ve Made on the Billboard 200, but they sold a meager 56,000 copies in their first week, which will make it difficult to duplicate the platinum success of their previous album, 2012’s The Heist.
Next week, look for Kendrick to notch his second #1 album in as many years with untitled unmastered., his surprise 8-track release from March 4, featuring unreleased To Pimp a Butterfly demos. Also, releases from 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne and Dreamville’s Bas should make considerable impacts.
