Beyoncé unwraps her seventh No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, as The Lion King: The Gift opens atop on the list dated Aug. 3. The set, credited to Beyoncé & Various Artists, earned 54,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 25, according to Nielsen Music.
The superstar executive produced the 27-track Gift album in tandem with her role as Nala in the 2019 Lion King feature film adaptation. Gift, which offers 14 original songs with 13 interlude tracks of King dialogue, sonically centers on Afrobeats and other African musical inspirations with elements of pop, R&B and hip-hop included. In addition to Beyoncé, who performs on 10 songs, Gift contains contributions from familiar collaborators, including JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell Williams, alongside popular African artists such as Burna Boy, WizKid and Tiwa Savage.
With the new chart-topper, here’s a rundown of all of Bey’s leaders on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart:
Album, Weeks at No. 1, Date Reached No. 1
Dangerously in Love, one, July 12, 2003
B’Day, two, Sept. 23, 2006
I Am…Sasha Fierce, two, Dec. 6, 2008
4, five, July 16, 2011
Beyoncé, 10, Dec. 28, 2013
Lemonade, 10, May 14, 2016
The Lion King: The Gift, one to date, Aug. 3, 2019
Seven No. 1s on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart ties Beyoncé with Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson for the fourth-best total on the ranking among solo women since the chart began in 1965. Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige share the record, with 10 each, while Mariah Carey boasts eight. The Supremes, notably, also count seven leaders on their resume.
In addition to Gift’s No. 1 start on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it enters atop the Top R&B Albums and World Albums chart and kicks off at No. 2 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
As Gift arrives, a pair of Beyoncé tracks debut on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs survey, which combines streaming, song downloads and airplay data. Those are “Brown Skin Girl,” with Saint Jhn and WizKid featuring Blue Ivy Carter (No. 27), and “Mood 4 Eva” with JAY-Z and Childish Gambino featuring Oumou Sangare (No. 33). “Girl” also bows at No. 1 on the World Digital Song Sales chart, one of 10 Gift songs to concurrently rank on the 25-position tally.
Elsewhere, “Girl” and “Mood” both debut on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 at Nos. 72 and 90, respectively. The former is a family affair of sorts for the Carter clan, as Blue Ivy earns her first Hot 100 credit, at age 7.