Eminem Passes Kanye West for Most Consecutive No. 1 Albums on Billboard 200 Chart
Eminem's new album Music to Be Murdered By has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and in doing so Shady takes sole ownership of a chart record he previously shared with Kanye West.
Em's new album pushed 279,000 equivalent album units in its first week out, reports Billboard on Sunday (Jan. 26). That included an impressive 117,000 in traditional album sales. Shady now owns 10 consecutive No. 1 albums, a new record. This includes every solo album release from the Detroit rapper dating back to 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP.
When Kanye, who is planning a Sunday Service Tour, released his chart-topping Jesus Is King album last October, he tied Eminem for the then record with nine. That run includes all of West's albums dating back to Late Registration.
Em's album did not come without controversy, as the song "Unaccommodating" had people talking for the wrong reasons. On the track, Shady makes light of the 2017 Ariana Grande concert bombing, which drew the ire of people both foreign and domestic. Ruffling feathers is par for the course for the rap god who has made a career off taking full advantage of his freedom of speech.
Music to Be Murdered By, which Em dedicated to the late Juice Wrld, features 20 songs and has guest appearances from Juice Wrld, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Ed Sheeran, Young M.A, Skylar Grey, Don Toliver, Anderson .Paak, Royce 5'9" and more. Like Em's previous Kamikaze album, the new LP was released without prior notice and was able to do major numbers without the advantage of pre-sales or pre-album hype.
See the 25 Longest-Charting Hip-Hop Albums in Billboard 200 History