Machine Gun Kelly, Super M Bow Big on Album Chart; Tory Lanez’s Self-Defensive Diatribe Fizzles
Machine Gun Kelly reached the top of the album chart for the first time this week with a collection called “Tickets to My Downfall.” That title actually seemed to be what Tory Lanez was selling, meanwhile, as his self-defensive album “Daystar,” which got about as much attention as any album this year, fizzled out after the initial hoopla and barely cracked the top 10.
“Tickets to My Downfall” debuted on the Rolling Stone album chart with 121,000 album units, of which 65,800 were actual full-album sales. He also came through with a healthy 66 million streams, and cemented his status with 19,300 digital song sales..
Bowing at No. 2 was the K-pop group Super M, with “Super One — The 1st Album” entering with a strong 111,000 album units. Nearly the entirety of that tally was in full-album sales; with 107,900 copies sold, it had one of the best opening weeks of any album this year as a pure seller. What kept Super M from debuting on top was the groups minimal streaming presence, with only 3.9 million streams. Track sales of 2,500 indicated little interest in individual downloads from the group’s fervent fans, who all clearly wanted the whole shebang.
Given recent trends in which fewer new releases have figured into the mix, the sight of four albums debuting in the top 10 was a slight shocker. Also premiering in the upper ranks were Joji’s “Nectar,” at No. 3, and Carrie Underwood’s Christmas album “My Gift,” at No. 6. Joji and Underwood were about equal in their full-album sales, with 44,800 and 42,400, respectively. But there was a big differential in their overall album units figures: 93,200 to 44,300. That’s because Joji also had a huge amount of streams to his name: in 62.1 million. Underwood’s holiday collection only had 1.3 million streams, meaning a lot of fans were buying the whole set and banking it, but had little interest in actually playing the music yet, in late September.
Lanez’ “Daystar” entered the chart at No. 10 with 34,300 units. Full-album sales were exceptionally weak, at 2,000, but he did rack up a decent amount of streams, with 40.7 million. That’s still a pretty low number considered that, the night he surprise-dropped the album, it seemed as if everyone in the world was checking it out to see what he was saying in his own defense about Megan Thee Stallion’s accusation that he shot her in the foot. Once that curiosity was satisfied — much of it via Twitter posts, rather than actually checking the album out, apparently — “Daystar” was consigned to the novelty-album bin.
Two more debuts made it into the top 20: the Deftones’ “Ohms” at No. 12, and a re-release of Prince’s classic “Sign O’ the Times,” available in multiple configurations, a step behind at No. 13.
Returning artists in the top 10 included Pop Smoke, down two spots to No. 4, Juice WRLD at No. 5., Youngboy Never Broke Again, slipping to No. 7, “Hamilton” at No. 8, and Taylor Swift’s “Folklore,” down from No. 1 last week to No. 9 this time around.
Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” made a big leap up to No. 30 on the strength of interest in the song “Dreams” after it appeared in a viral TikTok video of a lip-synching skateboarder. Over on the Rolling Stone songs chart, “Dreams” reappeared, 42 years after its initial release, at No. 24.
Atop that songs chart, the perennially No. 1 “WAP” was finally displaced by a new entry, “Franchise,” by Travis Scott featuring Young Thug and M.I.A., moving in with 15.5 million streams. Theirs was the only new track in the top 10. The next-highest entry belonged to a Machine Gun Kelly track that features Halsey, “Forget Me Too,” debuting at No. 15.
More from Variety
Reba McEntire to Return as CMA Awards Co-Host, Joined by First-Timer Darius Rucker
Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' Reenters Chart After Lip-Synch TikTok Video Takes Off
Megan Thee Stallion Responds to Tory Lanez's Denial That He Shot Her
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
