Eminem Earns His 10th Straight No. 1 Album

“Music to Be Murdered By,” another typically controversial album by the 47-year-old rapper, was a surprise release on Jan. 17.

“Music to Be Murdered By,” an unannounced release by Eminem, debuted at No. 1.Credit...Pierre Andrieu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“Music to Be Murdered By,” the latest album by the 47-year-old rapper Eminem, topped the Billboard chart this week after a surprise release, becoming his 10th straight album to debut at No. 1, the most of all time and one better than Kanye West, who has an active streak of nine.

The Eminem album, which dropped without warning on Jan. 17, earned the equivalent of 279,000 units, according to Nielsen Music, including 117,000 in album sales and 218 million streams. That was a drop from the rapper’s 2018 album, “Kamikaze,” which debuted with a total of 434,000 units, including 252,000 in sales and 226 million streams.

In typical Eminem fashion, “Music to Be Murdered By” raised eyebrows for some of its lyrical choices, including references to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas and the Manchester, England, bombing at an Ariana Grande concert. After some backlash, the rapper released a statement explaining that “murder has become so commonplace that we are a society obsessed and fascinated by it. I thought why not make a sport of it, and murder over beats?”

He added: “This album was not made for the squeamish. If you are easily offended or unnerved at the screams of bloody murder, this may not be the collection for you.”

Eminem joined Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand as the only artists with at least 10 No. 1 albums, according to Billboard.

His big week came amid an active one on the charts, with two other debuts in the six-figure range: “Manic” by the pop singer Halsey was not far behind at No. 2, with 239,000 units counting sales, streams and downloads, while “Circles,” the first posthumous album by the rapper Mac Miller, was No. 3 with 164,000 units.

The rest of the Top 5 was filled by two rap releases that have continued to stream well, with Roddy Ricch’s “Please Excuse Me for Being Anti-Social” at No. 4, with 153 million streams, and Post Malone’s “Hollywood’s Bleeding” at No. 5 with 53 million. “Rare” by Selena Gomez, last week’s No. 1 album (on a chart that was delayed because of the holiday weekend), fell to No. 6, dropping 66 percent in activity in its second week.

Any bumps thanks to Sunday night’s Grammy Awards for artists like Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X and Lizzo would be reflected on next week’s chart.

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