Lately, the charts have been a predictable carousel of some of music’s biggest stars, from Adele and Rihanna to Justin Bieber and The Weeknd, but with just a week’s warning, Kendrick Lamar has re-entered his name atop the Billboard 200.
The charts were made official today by Billboard, and for the second time in as many years, Lamar sits pretty in the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 with his surprise-release untitled unmastered., a rough collection of the live performances he’s continually delivered since Stephen Colbert’s final week on Comedy Central during the 4th quarter of 2014. The release of the album, which features guest appearances from TDE president Punch, SZA, Jay Rock and Cee-Lo Green, was coaxed along by LeBron James, who specifically made a request that TDE founder Anthony Tiffith and Kendrick find a way to release the songs, including cuts that Kendrick performed at The Grammy Awards and a recent episode of The Late Show. To swipe the top spot, K. Dot moved about 178,000 units, a significant drop-off from To Pimp A Butterfly‘s first-week numbers but an impressive result given the circumstances.
Also in the Top 5 are 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne, who recently teamed up to form the potent Collegrove duo, and released their self-titled debut on March 11. Containing several 2 Chainz solo cuts but primarily collaborations between the longtime collaborators, Collegrove moved about 53,000 units to take the #4 spot, giving 2 Chainz his third consecutive top 5 album, and Lil Wayne his ninth.
As far as the Billboard Hot 100 goes, there isn’t any news to report regarding the #1 spot. For the fourth consecutive week, Rihanna‘s infectious “Work” anthem has secured the top spot, beating out Justin Bieber‘s resurgent, Ed Sheeran-penned “Love Yourself,” which cooled off at the runner-up position this week. Also of note, a couple cuts from Kendrick’s album snuck into the Hot 100: “Untitled 07” and “Untitled 2.” Fans got a glimpse of “Untitled 2” when K. Dot performed parts of it over a different instrumental on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, but “Untitled “07,” featured never-before-heard-vocals from the 7-time Grammy winner. Also, Yo Gotti’s monster hit, “Down In The DM,” stays put in the #18 slot, while Kevin Gates creeps up to just outside the #20 spot, at #21 with his under-the-radar hit “2 Phones.”
Next week, look for The Flatbush Zombies to attempt a top 5 Billboard 200 landing with their new album, 3001: A Laced Odyssey, and for Kendrick Lamar to likely stick around in the top 10 for one more week with his second-week sales for untitled unmastered.
