Five years after Billboard typed her name in the #6 slot for 2018’s ‘Dirty Computer,’ singer-actress Janelle Monae sought to repeat the feat with the unveiling of her critically acclaimed fourth studio effort ‘Age of Pleasure.’
Released Friday (June 9), the 14-track affair boasted singles ‘Float‘ and ‘Lipstick Lover‘ to its credit and features appearances from big names like Amaarae, Grace Jones, Doechii, CKay, and others.
Charging to chart battle against the likes of modern-day titans Morgan Wallen, SZA, and Taylor Swift as well as new titles from Niall Horan and others, look inside to see how ‘Pleasure’ performed against the week’s other top sellers.
Janelle Monae’s ‘Age of Pleasure’
First-Week Sales (SPS): 30,000 units
First-Week Sales (Pure): 19,000 units
Billboard 200 Debut: #17
Monae planted ‘Pleasure‘ at #17 on the refreshed Billboard 200 with sales equivalence of 30,000 for the tracking period. With 19,000 of that sum being pure sales, ‘Pleasure’ came in as the week’s sixth best-selling project overall (and #1 among new R&B efforts).
Her fourth consecutive top 20 placement (among studio efforts), the #17 premiere marks a personal tie for Janelle’s lowest debut position on the Billboard 200 as the diva’s inaugural LP – ‘The ArchAndroid‘ – opened in the same position in 2010.
When all of her studio efforts are considered, ‘Pleasure’ places third in debut sales ranking and is bested by the first-week sales of 2018’s ‘Computer’ (54k first-week) and 2013’s ‘Electric Lady’ (47k first-week).
Look below to see who joins Janelle on TGJ’s updated Billboard 200 recap, ‘Chart Check.’