SZA’s SOS spends its entire chart run at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list, which was updated on February 4. The previous album by a woman to spend seven weeks at No. 1 was Taylor Swift’s Folklore, which spent its eighth and final week at the top of the charts on the chart for October 31, 2020, more than two years ago.
According to Luminate, SOS sold 111,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week of January 26 (a decrease of 7%).
Trippie Redd debuts Mansion Musik at No. 3 for his eighth top-10 charting effort, while HARDY debuts The Mockingbird & The Crow at No. 4 for his first top-10 placement. Both artists are included in the current Billboard 200 chart’s top 10.
The Billboard 200 chart lists the top albums of the week in the United States based on Luminate’s compilation of multi-metric consumption measured in equivalent album units. Track equivalent albums (TEA), album sales, and streaming equivalent albums are all included in units (SEA).
Each unit represents one album sale, 10 single track sales from an album, and 3,750 free or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand streaming of official audio and video content produced by songs from an album.
SOS earned 111,000 equivalent album units in the week ending January 26. Of those, 1,000 were album sales, 1,000 were SEA units (down 7%, equaling 148.87 million on-demand official streaming of the set’s tracks), and 500 were TEA units (down 8%).
Only three albums—SOS, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (13 nonconsecutive weeks), and the Encanto soundtrack—have spent at least seven weeks at No. 1 in the past year (nine nonconsecutive weeks).
Since Whitney Houston’s Whitney in 1987, SOS is the first R&B/hip-hop album by a woman or R&B album by any performer to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1. The latter spent its first 11 weeks at No. 1 after debuting at No. 1 on the June 27, 1987-dated list (its total run at No. 1). Whitney was the first female-produced R&B/hip-hop album or R&B album to enter at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list.
Albums that have reached or are eligible for Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums charts, respectively, are referred to as R&B/hip-hop and R&B albums.
The previous R&B/hip-hop album to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 was Drake’s Views, which spent its first nine weeks there (May 21-July 16, 2016 charts).