BTS‘ “Arirang” is at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the third frame in a row, with little competition coming along to usurp it in a slow week for new releases. Prior to this album, BTS had never spent more than one week at No. 1 the U.S. album rankings, so a high-water mark was already set for the K-pop group last week, with this third time at the top just extends the ARMY-pleasing streak.
“Arirang” scored 124,000 equivalent album units for the week ending April 9, as reported by Luminate and Billboard. That’s down just 34% from the previous week, when the album racked up 187,000 units. Two weeks ago, in its debut, BTS’ album earned 641,000. That was the highest debut this year, and the best opening figure since Taylor Swift released a new album last October.
Billboard notes that the last time a group scored three weeks at No. 1 was in 2012-13, when Mumford & Sons did it with “Babel,” which ultimately spent five weeks on top.
The figures for “Arirang” this week break down mainly to 71,000 physical or digital albums sold, and another 50,000 equivalent album units coming from streaming (based on 52.44 million on-demand streams of the songs from the album).
Last week’s No. 2 album, Ye’s “Bully,” slipped to No. 3, with 69,000 units, down by 54%. Although “Bully” debuted more modestly than virtually all albums by Ye (formerly Kanye West), the drop-off wasn’t terrible, suggesting that the controversy over Ye being dropped from a festival in the U.K. over his former antisemitic statements may not be affecting the trajectory of the album one way or another.
Morgan Wallen’s perennial blockbuster “I’m the Problem” moved back up two spots to claim the No. 2 spot this week, with 80,000 units added to its tally, representing a slight 5% increase as the country star’s new stadium tour got underway.
At No. 4 is Don Toliver’s “Octane,” with 57,000 units, a four-spot jump and a 7% increase based on new physical editions of the album being released.
The remaining spots in the top 10 belong to Olivia Dean’s “The Art of Loving” at No. 5 (50,000 units), Luke Combs’ “The Way I Am” at No. 6 (46,000), and Bad Bunny, an older Wallen album, and the latest releases from Harry Styles and Bruno Mars at Nos. 7-10.
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