POST Malone returns to the top of the Billboard album chart this week for a fourth time.
But in the music industry, all eyes are on Kanye West, who appears to have a strong lead for next week’s chart with his new (and long-delayed) gospel-influenced album.
Post Malone’s “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” which first hit No. 1 last month with big streaming numbers, returned to the top of the chart even though its total sales activity dipped slightly. Songs from the album were streamed 108 million times in the United States, and 9,000 copies of the LP were sold as a complete package, according to Nielsen, giving Post Malone the equivalent of 93,000 sales — down 6 per cent from the week before.
“Hollywood’s Bleeding” is the first album to be No. 1 for four weeks since Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s soundtrack to “A Star Is Born,” which spent three weeks at the top last fall and then returned to No. 1 after they performed at the Oscars (and “Shallow,” from the film, won best original song).
West’s album “Jesus Is King,” which was finally released on Friday after weeks of delays — and urgent coverage of those delays by the music and celebrity press — appears to have the lead for next week’s chart, according to anonymous “industry forecasters” cited by Billboard. Publicly available data from Spotify shows that, at least on that service, songs from “Jesus Is King” dominate streaming.
Back on this week’s chart, YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “AI YoungBoy 2,” last week’s top seller, fell to No. 2; “Over It” by R&B singer Summer Walker holds at No. 3; DaBaby’s “Kirk” is in fourth place; and Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” now in its ninth week out, rose one spot to No. 5. - NEW YORK TIMES