Post Malone Rules Billboard Artist 100 for First Time, Powered By 'Beerbongs & Bentleys'

5/9/2018 by Xander Zellner

Rich Fury/Getty Images for Bud Light

Post Malone behind the scenes before his Bud Light Dive Bar Tour show in Nashville at Footsies Dive Bar on March 20, 2018 in Los Angeles.

He becomes the seventh solo rapper to hit No. 1 in 2018, the most in a single year.

Post Malone jumps from No. 9 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart (dated May 12) to become the top musical act in the U.S. for the first time, fueled by the arrival of his sophomore LP, beerbongs & bentleys.

The Artist 100, which launched in July 2014, measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

Beerbongs debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 461,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 3, according to Nielsen Music, earning the biggest streaming week ever for an album. Malone concurrently charts all 18 songs from the set on the Billboard Hot 100, including a record nine simultaneously in the top 20.

The rapper/singer previously peaked at No. 3 on the Artist 100 in December 2017, after he notched his first Hot 100 No. 1, "Rockstar," featuring 21 Savage.

As hip-hop hits new heights, Malone is the seventh solo rapper to hit No. 1 on the Artist 100 in 2018, joining (in chronological order) Eminem, Drake, Logic, XXXTENTACION, Cardi B and J. Cole. Only four solo rappers hit No. 1 in each of 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Solo Rappers at No. 1 on Artist 100 Year-by-Year

2018 (seven)
Eminem
Drake
Logic
XXXTENTACION
Cardi B
J. Cole
Post Malone

2017 (four)
Future
Drake
Kendrick Lamar
JAY-Z

2016 (four)
Kendrick Lamar
Drake
Frank Ocean
J. Cole

2015 (four)
Drake
Kendrick Lamar
Meek Mill
Future

Directly below Malone on the Artist 100, Keith Urban vaults 78-2 as his Graffiti U debuts at No. 1 on Top Country Albums and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (145,000 units). He previously peaked at No. 8 on the Artist 100 in May 2016.

Rounding out the Artist 100's top five, Drake dips 2-3; J. Cole falls 1-4 (following his second total week on top); and Cardi B drops 3-5.

Elsewhere on the Artist 100, Janelle Monae re-enters at No. 10, a new peak, as her new album, Dirty Computer, arrives at No. 1 on Top R&B Albums and No. 6 on the Billboard 200 (54,000 units). She previously spent a week on the Artist 100, in March, at No. 95.

Check out this week's full Artist 100 here.