Kanye West has earned his ninth consecutive No. 1 Billboard 200 album with Jesus Is King, tying Eminem’s streak for the longest in the chart’s history.
According to Nielsen Music, the polarizing project has debuted in the coveted spot with roughly 264,000 equivalent album units for the week ending October 31. While the majority of sales came from streaming, approximately 109,000 of those were pure album sales.
From 2005 to 2019, all of Ye’s albums have entered the chart at No. 1. Kanye’s only project not to land in the top spot was his debut effort, 2004’s The College Dropout, which debuted at No. 2. It also marks Kanye’s biggest streaming week ever. Jesus Is King reeled in 96.9 million on-demand audio streams, surpassing his previous biggest streaming week in 2018 when Ye hit 180.1 million.
Like Kanye, nine of Eminem’s 10 albums have also debuted at No. 1, beginning with 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP and culminating with 2018’s Kamikaze. Both Em and Ye have broken the Beatles’ previous record of eight.
Jesus Is King was released on 25th Oct, 2019 after numerous delays and misleading release dates. It marks a new direction for the G.O.O.D. Music boss. As indicated by the title, the project is heavily inspired by gospel music and affirms Ye’s Christian faith.