‘Business’ As Usual: Young Thug Debuts at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart
Written by djfrosty on July 6, 2023
It’s business as usual for Young Thug on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where the rapper claims a third consecutive No. 1 – and fifth overall champ. His new album, Business Is Business, opens atop the list dated July 8 through 89,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending June 29, according to Luminate.
In line with nearly every rap album, streaming supplies most of Business’ bottom line. Eighty thousand units of the starting sum derive from streaming, equaling 106.32 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs. Of the remaining 9,000 units, album sales contribute 8,500 while track-equivalent albums comprise the last 500. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)
Young Thug and Business Is Business executive producer Metro Boomin announced the new album only hours before its release on June 23. The news drew extra attention, given that Young Thug is currently incarcerated and awaiting trial on racketeering charges.
With Business Is Business, Young Thug collects his fifth No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. He first led with Super Slimey, a collaborative album with Future in 2017, and followed with So Much Fun (2019), Young Stoner Life: Slime Language 2 and Punk (both 2021). Thanks to his 2021 efforts and Business Is Business, the rapper links a third consecutive No. 1 for his catalog.
Elsewhere, Business Is Business opens at No. 1 on the Top Rap Albums chart and yields Young Thug’s sixth leader (all five of his Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 1s and 2016’s Slime Season 3). It also begins at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
Young Thug’s new album also does big business on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with 13 debuts from the set. “Oh U Went,” featuring Drake, is the highest arrival, at No. 9, and gives Young Thug his 14th career visit to the top 10, while Drake adds a record-extending 119th trip to the top tier. “Oh U Went” is the most-streamed Business In Business song in the album’s debut week, with 15 million official U.S. streams, and, with 1,000 copies sold, is second among the album’s best-selling songs, after “Money,” featuring Juice WRLD and Nicki Minaj (2,000 sold).
Here’s a recap of all Young Thug’s placements on this week’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart:
- No. 9, “Oh U Went,” featuring Drake
- No. 11, “Parade on Cleveland,” featuring Drake
- No. 16, “Cars Bring Me Out,” featuring Future
- No. 18, “Wit Da Racks,” featuring 21 Savage, Travis Scott & Yak Gotti
- No. 20, “Want Me Dead,” featuring 21 Savage
- No. 26, “Hellcat Kenny,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert
- No. 29, “Money on the Dresser”
- No. 31, “Uncle M”
- No. 39, “Abracadabra,” featuring Travis Scott
- No. 40, “Gucci Grocery Bag”
- No. 42, “Jonesboro”
- No. 44, “Mad Dog”
- No. 47, “Went Thru It”