YoungBoy Never Broke Again scores his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as his latest release, 38 Baby 2, bounds in atop the tally. The set arrives with 67,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 30, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
38 Baby 2 is the rapper’s second No. 1, following AI YoungBoy 2, which debuted at No. 1 less than seven months ago with 110,000 units earned in its first week (Oct. 26, 2019-dated chart). Further, 38 Baby 2 replaces another “baby”-named album at No. 1. It bumps DaBaby’s Blame It On Baby down to No. 2, after it opened at the top a week ago. 38 Baby 2 was released on April 24 via Never Broke Again/Atlantic Records.
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. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new May 9-dated chart (where 38 Baby 2 debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 5.
38 Baby 2’s bow of 67,000 equivalent album units consists of 63,000 SEA units (equaling 96.9 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs during the tracking week), 4,000 in album sales and a negligible number of TEA units.
Here’s a look at some notable statistics around the debut of 38 Baby 2 at No. 1:
Two No. 1s in Less Than Seven Months: 38 Baby 2 debuts at No. 1 only six months and 14 days after YoungBoy’s last No. 1, AI YoungBoy 2, debuted at No. 1 (Oct. 26, 2019 chart). That’s the quickest accumulation of No. 1 albums since BTS nabbed two No. 1s in just three months and six days with Love Yourself: Answer (Sept. 8, 2018) and Love Yourself: Tear (June 2, 2018). In terms of solo artists, YoungBoy’s two No. 1s came faster than any other act since Future had back-to-back No. 1s in two successive weeks with his self-titled album and Hndrxx on March 11 and March 18, 2017.
Three Top-Two Albums in Less Than Seven Months: In between AI YoungBoy 2 and 38 Baby 2, YoungBoy also scored a No. 2-peaking album with Still Flexin, Still Steppin, which debuted at No. 2 on the March 7, 2020, chart. No traditionally credited artist has claimed three top-two charting albums in such a short span (just six months and 14 days) since Miley Cyrus scored a trio of top twos in 2009 in less than six months. That year, in a five-month and nine-day span, she racked up a No. 1 with the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack, a No. 2 set with the Hannah Montana 3 TV soundtrack, and another No. 2 with The Time of Our Lives EP. (Note: The ensemble cast of the Fox TV series Glee logged three top-two albums, all No. 1s, in less than two months in 2010.)
Baby, Baby: For the first time ever, the Nos. 1 and 2 albums on the Billboard 200 have the word baby in their titles, as 38 Baby 2 bumps DaBaby’s Blame It On Baby down to No. 2. Further, it’s the first time an album with “baby” in its title has replaced another at No. 1. And for good measure, 38 Baby 2 is just the fifth No. 1 album with baby in its title. It follows DaBaby’s Blame It On Baby (2020), Hozier’s Wasteland, Baby! (2019), Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time (1998-1999), and U2’s Achtung Baby (1991).
Lowest Unit Sum for a No. 1 Debut since 2017: It’s a soft week on the Billboard 200, as 38 Baby 2 collects the smallest unit total (67,000) for a No. 1-debuting album since 2017. The last title to start at No. 1 with a smaller sum was NF’s Perception, which launched with 55,000 units on the Oct. 28, 2017-dated list. The last time a No. 1 album had a smaller weekly haul, debut week or not, was when Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? notched its third nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the list dated June 8, 2019 with 62,000 units.
38 Baby 2 leads a quiet top 10, as it’s the only debut in the region. It’s the first time the top 10 has had less than two new arrivals since the Feb. 8 chart, when no albums debuted in the top 10. That said, there were albums originally slated for release on April 24 that likely would have arrived in the top 10 alongside 38 Baby 2.
Luke Bryan’s Born Here Live Here Die Here and Haim’s Women in Music Pt. III were both scheduled to drop on April 24. The former certainly would have had a solid chance at a chart-topping bow based on the country king’s track record of 10 previous top 10s and four No. 1s. Bryan’s set has been delayed to Aug. 7, while Haim’s album has been moved to Aug. 21, both due to coronavirus concerns. As noted earlier, DaBaby’s Blame It On Baby falls to No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (down 55 percent).
A quartet of former No. 1s follows DaBaby, as Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake is steady at No. 3 (49,000 units; down 10 percent), The Weeknd’s After Hours drops 2-4 (48,000; down 13 percent), Lil Baby’s My Turn is a non-mover at No. 5 (41,000; down 3 percent) and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding is stationary at No. 6 (38,000; up 3 percent).
Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG holds at No. 7 with 34,000 units (down 5 percent), while Roddy Ricch’s former leader Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial also stays put at No. 8 with 33,000 units (down 3 percent).
Travis Scott’s former No. 1 Astroworld charges back into the top 10, as the set climbs 30-9 with 28,000 units (up 68 percent). The album is basking in the glow of Scott’s Fortnite virtual concert on April 23.
Closing out the new top 10 is Megan Thee Stallion’s Suga, which gallops back to the top 10 with a 21-10 jump (27,000 units; up 39 percent). The set surges thanks in part to less than two days of activity generated by a new remix of the album’s “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé. The redux was released midday on April 29, one day before the chart’s tracking week ended. Watch for further gains for the album next week.