billboard charts

Lana Del Rey Beat Tyler, the Creator by Just 1,000 Albums for No. 1 on the Charts

A photo finish.

In what ended up being a photo finish, Billboard has announced that Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life just barely edged out Tyler, the Creator’s Flower Boy for the No. 1 album. After an unusual initial delay in finalizing the chart count due to a “top-tier data provider encountering technical issues” (Tyler speculated beforehand that it might’ve been Tidal), Lana ended up selling 107,000 album equivalents (80,000 traditional) to Tyler’s 106,000 (70,000 traditional). Incredibly, that means Tyler missed out on his first-ever No. 1 album by just 1,000 units. Lust for Life is Lana’s second No. 1 album after 2014’s Ultraviolence. Joining them in this rare tight race is Meek Mill, whose ironically titled Wins and Losses finished with 102,000 album equivalents (so, only 4,000 units shy of No. 1 for him), good for third place. It’s only the first time this year where the top three Billboard 200 albums are chart debuts that moved more than 100,000 units. So, does the new chart reflect more statistical proof that we’re a country still very much divided, or do Lana and rappers just share even more fans than assumed? The correct answer is there is no answer. (But also, probably both!)

Lana Del Rey Beat Tyler, the Creator by Just 1,000 Albums