Music News

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter holds atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 20), after debuting at No. 1 a week ago, as the set earned 125,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 11 (down 69%), according to Luminate.

With a second week in the lead, Cowboy Carter has the most weeks at No. 1 for any Beyoncé album since her self-titled set spent three weeks at No. 1 (its first three weeks on the chart), in December 2013 and January 2014.

Of Beyoncé’s eight No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, three have spent two or more weeks at No. 1: Cowboy Carter (two, 2024), her self-titled effort (three, in 2013-14) and 4 (two, 2011). (Since her self-titled effort, she’s topped the list three more times, with Lemonade [one week at No. 1, 2016], Renaissance [one week, 2022] and now Cowboy Carter.)

Elsewhere on the Billboard 200, and for the first time in 2024, three albums debut in the top 10 at the same time, as the latest releases from J. Cole, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Benson Boone start at Nos. 2, 3 and 6, respectively. The last time the top 10 housed three debuts was on the Nov. 25, 2023-dated list, when Stray Kids, Chris Stapleton and Chris Brown saw their newest albums bow in the region.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new April 20, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of Cowboy Carter’s second-week unit sum of 125,500, SEA units comprise 103,000 (down 54%, equaling 132.69 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 20,500 (down 88%) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 70%).

While Cowboy Carter’s CD and vinyl editions were available to purchase only via Beyoncé’s official webstore in the set’s first two weeks of release, those physical configurations became widely available to all retailers beginning on April 12. (The album has also been purchasable as a digital download, widely, since its release on March 29.)

At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, J. Cole’s surprise-release album Might Delete Later arrives with 115,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 105,000 (equaling 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. The album was only available to stream or to purchase as a digital download.

Might Delete Later was issued on April 5 without warning, and boasts collaborations with Gucci Mane, Cam’ron, Bas, Central Cee, Ari Lennox and Young Dro, among others.

Might Delete Later drew attention for its Kendrick Lamar diss track “7 Minute Drill,” which appears to find Cole responding to Lamar’s apparent disses directed at Cole and Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” A few days after the release of “7 Minute Drill,” Cole publicly apologized for releasing the track, saying it “don’t sit right with my spirit.” Ultimately, “7 Minute Drill” was removed from the tracklist of the streaming edition of Might Delete Later on April 12, one day after the end of the latest chart’s tracking week. (As of April 14, the song was still available on the digital download edition of the set.) “7 Minute Drill” was the most-streamed song on Might Delete Later during the album’s opening week.

Might Delete Later is J. Cole’s seventh album to reach the top two rungs on the Billboard 200, after he notched six earlier No. 1s in 2011-21. He has logged one other entry on the list, with the Forest Hills Drive: Live, which hit No. 71 in 2016.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER notches its fifth top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200, as Minisode 3: TOMORROW debuts at No. 3 with 107,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 103,500 (making it the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album’s sales were supported by its availability across 17 collectible CD editions (including exclusive editions sold by Barnes & Noble, Target and the act’s webstore), all containing randomized paper merchandise (but with the same audio tracklist).

With the Nos. 1-3 titles on the Billboard 200 each earning at least 100,000 equivalent album units, it’s the first time we’ve had as many albums clear 100,000 in a week since the Dec. 2, 2023-dated list. That week, Drake’s For All the Dogs jumped 4-1 with 145,000, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) held at No. 2 with 137,000 and Dolly Parton’s Rockstar debuted at No. 3 with 128,000.

Future and Metro Boomin’s chart-topping We Don’t Trust You falls 2-4 in its third week on the list, earning 99,000 equivalent album units (down 24%). The set’s sequel album, We Still Don’t Trust You, was released on April 12 and will impact next week’s chart dated April 27.

Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is pushed down 3-5, despite a 4% gain, with 72,000 equivalent album units earned.

Benson Boone’s debut full-length studio album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, skates in at No. 6 with 58,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the first chart entry for the singer-songwriter. Of the set’s starting sum, SEA units comprise 52,000 (equaling 70.21 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 4,000 (largely from its digital download, as the set’s only physical availability was through a limited release on CD) and TEA units comprise 2,000. The album was led by the hit single “Beautiful Things” (the most-streamed song on the set), which has spent the last nine weeks inside the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (through the list dated April 13), peaking at No. 2.

Ariana Grande’s chart-topping Eternal Sunshine falls 4-7 on the Billboard 200 with 48,000 equivalent album units earned (down 17%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 7-8 (though up 2%) with 45,000 units, Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts dips 6-9 with 43,000 (down 13%) and SZA’s chart-topping SOS drops 9-10, though with a 1% gain, to 40,000 units.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.