Usain Bolt, Bob Marley Debut New Albums On Billboard, While Skeng Locks Down Jamaica
Retired sprint champ turned Dancehall music producer Usain Bolt and Reggae legend Bob Marley have both debuted new albums on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart this week, while rising Dancehall star Skeng has captured attention in Jamaica with his new No. 1 song.
Bolt has landed at No. 6 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart with his debut collaborative album Country Yutes with friend and manager Nugent “NJ” Walker. Produced by Bolt’s own label, A-Team Lifestyle, the 14-track album was released on September 3 and has sold 1,807 equivalent album units during its first week in the United States, according to data provided to DancehallMag from Billboard’s sales tracker, MRC Data.
The weekly sales and streaming-driven Billboard Reggae Albums chart ranks the most popular Reggae albums in the US, based on consumption metrics that are measured in equivalent album units. Each of those units represents one album sale or 10 individual tracks sold from an album or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscriptions streams from an album via audio or video streams.
According to MRC Data, Country Yutes’ 1,807 equivalent album units included 1,651 in pure album sales, and just 148,821 in audio streams and 2,244 in video streams.
Bob Marley & The Wailers hold the No. 1 position on the chart this week, with Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers for the 88th week in a row. The greatest hits collection, which was first released in 1984, racked up 11,038 in album equivalent units which included 2,436 in pure sales, 10,760,831 in audio streaming and 510,972 in video streaming.
Bob Marley’s The Capital Session 73, released on September 3, has debuted on the chart at No. 2 with 2,681 album equivalent units which includes 2,130 in pure sales, and 693,701 in audio streaming, according to MRC Data.
The 14 track collection was released by Eagle Rock Entertainment and features restored and remastered live audio from footage that was previously considered lost.
Shaggy’s Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection is at No. 3 on the chart, while Sean Paul is at No. 4 with his Dutty Classics Collection. Jason Mraz’s Love For The Good at No. 5, followed by UB-40’s Greatest Hits at No. 7 and Stick Figure at No. 8 and 9 with their World On Fire and Set In Stone albums, respectively.
Bob Marley & The Wailers wrap up the Top 10 on the Billboard Reggae chart with their third entry, Gold.
Meanwhile, in Jamaica, the No. 1 song last week was Skeng’s Gvnman Shift, according to YouTube’s Music Charts & Insights. Released on the 1Matik Riddim, the song has racked up over 2,000,000 views on the platform since its release on August 23.
Skeng is also known for his 2020 hit Brrrp.
Intence’s popular Yahoo Boyz has slid to No. 2 after dominating the YouTube chart for six weeks. Produced by CountreeHype Entertainment and Cryshy Records, Yahoo Boyz has amassed over 5,600,000 views since its release on July 5.
Rytikal’s Where I’m From, another 1Matik Riddim cut, has landed at No. 3 this week, followed by 450’s Journey at No. 4. Journey received new RD Studios-directed visuals yesterday, which currently stands at 130,000 views on YouTube.
Skeng and Intence appear on the chart again with Street Cred at No. 5 and Poison (also on the 1Matik Riddim) at No. 6, respectively.
Rytikal’s Chosen is currently at No. 7, followed Silk Boss’ Mankind at No. 8. 450 appears again at No. 9 with his breakout hit Imperfection, followed by Laa Lee’s Dirt Bounce at No. 10.