With no major releases, and no debuts making it to the Top 15, Bronx rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s “Hoodie SZN” (Highbridge/Atlantic) returned to No. 1 for its third nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard chart. Driven by steady streams, the album moved a total of 47,000 equivalent units, according to Nielsen Music, combining 68 million digital on-demand song plays and just 398 in traditional sales — a record low in sales for a No. 1 album, beating its own bottom-water mark of 823 from last month. (Neither of the album’s trips to No. 1 in January came during its debut week on the Billboard 200, a rarity on today’s charts.)
“I Am > I Was,” the former chart-topper by Atlanta rapper 21 Savage, climbed back to No. 2 from No. 8, after his arrest on Super Bowl Sunday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. 21 Savage, whose album added another 40,000 units — with just 839 in sales — in its seventh week out, remains in ICE custody and is facing potential deportation proceedings because the government says he is in the United States illegally.
Future’s “The Wizrd,” another recent No. 1, fell one spot to No. 3 this week, with 51 million streams and 1,600 in sales for a total of 40,000 units, while Travis Scott’s “Astroworld” is No. 4 in its 27th week on the chart. The soundtrack for “A Star Is Born,” another chart fixture in recent months, is No. 5 with 38,000 units as the film and album continue their path through awards season.
Business should pick up next week: Ariana Grande, who has had two No. 1 hit songs so far this year, released “Thank U, Next,” her second album in six months Friday, and is poised for another blockbuster debut. And then there’s the Grammys stimulus, which could lead to sales bumps for Sunday night’s stars, like Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, H.E.R. and Cardi B. Musgraves won album of the year for “Golden Hour,” which peaked at No. 4 last April.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.