The Weeknd Returns to No. 1 on Updated Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart

The Weeknd’s Starboy returns to No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (chart dated Feb. 11), rising 3-1 during the first week of the chart’s transition to ranking by equivalent album units (mirroring the Billboard 200).

The set earned 56,000 units in the week ending Jan. 26, according to Nielsen Music. Of the title’s total for the week, 21 percent of its units came from traditional album sales, while 15 percent stem from track equivalent album (TEA) units, and 64 percent from streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

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The climb marks the first time that Starboy has crowned the list since its chart-topping debut (on the Dec. 17 list).

Elsewhere on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s Savage Mode re-enters at its original debut and peak position, No. 9. The album surges back onto the chart with 14,000 units, with 89 percent of that total owed to SEA units. The robust streaming share is owed to the popularity on streaming services of songs like “X” and “No Heart,” which both rank in the top 20 of the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs chart.

Other notable jumps into the top 10, due to the chart’s new formula, include Post Malone’s Stoney, which lifts 15-3 to a new peak (26,000 units), and Rae Sremmurd’s Sremmlife 2 (up 36-8 with 16,000 units).

Mary J. Blige Ties Her Best: Over on the Adult R&B Songs airplay chart, Mary J. Blige’s “Thick of It” spends a 14th consecutive week at No. 1, tying her longest run at the top of the chart, which she earned in 2006 with “Be Without You.” The latest single stays atop the list with a seven percent increase in plays at the format (in the tracking week ending Jan. 29). Memphis, Tennessee’s KJMS championed the track with 59 spins in the most recent week.

Blige has notched five No. 1s on Adult R&B Songs. “Thick of It” is her first leader on the tally since 2009, when “IfULeave” topped the list for eight weeks.