Byron Messia’s ‘No Love’ Hits Billboard Reggae Chart: Here Are His Numbers In The US
Byron Messia’s No Love has debuted on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart at No. 8 almost five months after its release, signifying the St. Kitts-based Dancehall star’s growing popularity.
Released on January 20, the 16-track project has notched 1,400 units from sales and streaming for the week of May 26 through June 1, according to data provided to DancehallMag, from Billboard’s sales tracker Luminate. This included 100 copies in pure album sales and 1.9 million in audio and video streaming across the United States for that tracking week.
The Ztekk Records album has recorded a total of 6,300 units in sales and streaming in the US since its release earlier this year. This figure includes 200 copies in pure album sales and 8.5 million in audio and video streaming in the US since January.
No Love‘s entry on the Reggae chart was largely fueled by the album’s lead track Talibans, a joint production by Ztekk and EJ Fya.
The Talibans single, according to Luminate, has racked up 10,000 units in the US market for the week of May 26 through June 1. This included 200 copies in song sales and 1.5 million in audio and video streaming.
Since its release on January 20, the song has accrued 39,000 US units, including 700 in song sales and 5.4 million in audio and video streaming, per Luminate.
Messia’s hit has also made waves across the pond, entering the UK Singles Chart at No. 67 and the UK Hip-Hop/R&B Singles chart at No. 24, last week. The music video, featuring a guest appearance from Jamaican starlet Jada Kingdom, referenced in the song’s second verse (‘AK shake like a Jada Kingdom’), has also drawn significant attention, racking up more than 23 million views on YouTube.
The 23-year-old artist, during a recent visit to Jamaica, had moved to declare – once and for all – that Talibans was a Dancehall track, putting distance from his prior statements that it was recorded on an Afrobeats riddim.
“I call it a Dancehall song. People been saying it’s an Afro song, but the reason why I will call it a Dancehall song, is because the melodies weh mi use an di creativity behind of it all is very Dancehall-like. An’ yuh know seh Dancehall run deepa dan just being Dancehall as music,” he told TVJ’s Entertainment Report.
No Love, which was Messia’s debut studio album, also featured songs such as Smallest Circle, Vent, and Dream Team with Govana.
He’s already prepping a follow-up album titled Sad & Famous after reportedly signing a multi-album deal with Interscope Records.
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 audio or video streaming from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription-based audio or video streaming from an album.
In the US, 150 on-demand streams are equivalent to one song download or sale.
On the chart dated June 10, Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers remains the No. 1 album for the 177th non-consecutive week.
Best Of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection by Shaggy stays firm at No. 2, followed by Dutty Classics Collection by Sean Paul at No. 3.
Stick Figure possesses a significant presence on the chart, holding Nos. 4, 5, and 7 with Wisdom, World On Fire, and Set In Stone, respectively.
Greatest Hits by UB40 stands at No. 6, while Rebelution’s Live At Red Rocks and Count Me In albums are at No. 9 and 10, respectively.