Jay-Z Repeats As Billboard 2100 Chart Topper

As expected, JAY-Z’s 4:44 notches a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set, which bowed atop the tally a week ago, earned 87,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 20, according to Nielsen Music. That sum is down 67 percent compared to its bow of 262,000.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Aug. 5-dated chart (where JAY-Z holds at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, July 25.

4:44 sold 61,000 in traditional album sales in its second week (down 65 percent from 173,000). The album was also down in streaming and track equivalencies, falling 72 percent in SEA units (22,000 -- down from 82,000) and 52 percent in TEA units (3,000 -- down from 7,000).

JAY-Z now has a cumulative total of 25 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Of his 14 No. 1 albums, seven have spent a single week at No. 1, while five have racked up two weeks at No. 1 (including 4:44). Two of his chart-toppers clocked three or more weeks at No. 1: 1998’s Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life (five weeks at No. 1) and 2001’s The Blueprint (three weeks at No. 1).

The only rap act with more weeks at No. 1 in the 61-year history of the chart is Eminem, with 31 total weeks atop the list.

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 is Kendrick Lamar’s former No. 1, DAMN., which rises one spot in its 14th week on the list (56,000 units, up 3 percent). The album has yet to depart the top three since its debut at No. 1 on the May 6-dated chart.