Kali Uchis Scores First No. 1 on Top Album Sales With ‘Orquideas’

Kali Uchis scores her first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Jan. 27), as Orquídeas arrives atop the list with her biggest sales week ever – 31,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 18, according to Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl sales accounted for 20,000 – marking the largest week for a Spanish-language album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. The effort also launches at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums ranking, No. 1 on Top Latin Albums (her first leader there) and starts at a career-high No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Elsewhere in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Jimin’s former No. 1 FACE re-enters at No. 4 following its vinyl release and Kid Cudi’s new album Insano starts at No. 5.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. All of Billboard’s new Jan. 27, 2024-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Jan. 23. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of the 31,000 copies sold of Orquídeas, physical sales comprise 30,000 (20,000 on vinyl, 10,000 on CD and negligible sum on cassette) and digital download album sales comprise 1,000. Its sales were bolstered by its availability across seven vinyl variants and four CD editions, including exclusive versions sold through independent record stores, Target, Urban Outfitters and the artist’s webstore.

Six Taylor Swift albums populate the top 10, all former No. 1s, led by Folklore, which pushes 3-2 with 19,000 (up 92%, owed to a replenishment of CD stock at retail). 1989 (Taylor’s Version) falls 1-3 (13,000; down 20%), Midnights dips 2-6 (8,000; down 29%), Lover descends 5-8 (7,000; down 28%), Evermore falls 7-9 (6,000; down 8%) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) drops 6-10 (5,000; down 25%).

Jimin’s FACE re-enters at No. 4 with nearly 10,000 sold (up 3,501%) following the set’s release on vinyl. It sold 8,000 copies on vinyl in the week ending Jan. 18,  and enters at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart. FACE was issued in only one vinyl edition, and included a photo book, postcard and photocard inside its packaging.

Kid Cudi scores his sixth top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales, as his latest studio album Insano starts at No. 5 with 8,500 sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 7,000 (about 5,500 on vinyl and 1,500 on CD) and digital downloads comprise 1,500. The album’s sales were enhanced by its availability across four vinyl variants and four CD editions.

Stray Kids’ chart-topping ROCK-STAR falls 4-7 on Top Album Sales, with nearly 8,000 sold (down 19%).

In the week ending Jan. 18, there were 1.083 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 9.3% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 822,000 (down 12.1%) and digital albums comprised 261,000 (down 0.6%).

There were 370,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Jan. 18 (down 15.7 week-over-week) and 449,000 vinyl albums sold (down 8.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 1.316 (down 27.2% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 1.566 million (down 45.9%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 3.694 million (down 35.5% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 2.895 million (down 38.8%) and digital album sales total 799,000 (down 19.5%).

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