Meek Mill Claims His First No. 1 Album on the Billboard 200 Chart [CLICK]

Rapper Meek Mill scores his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as Dreams Worth More Than Money opens in the top slot. The set -- which was released on Maybach/Atlantic Records on June 30 -- moved 246,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 5, according to Nielsen Music.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Meek Mill bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated July 18, which will post in full to Billboard’s website on Thursday, July 9. It is the final Billboard 200 chart utilizing sales data from a Monday to Sunday tracking cycle, due to the music industry shifting to a global release date for new albums (Fridays, beginning on July 10). Going forward, Nielsen Music will alter its sales tracking week to a Friday to Thursday cycle. The first Billboard 200 chart impacted by this shift will see its top 10 revealed in a news story on Saturday, July 11, followed by a full posting of the chart on Tuesday, July 14. (Read this story for further information about the changes.)

Dreams Worth More Than Money is Meek Mill’s second studio album, and also tallies his largest sales week: 215,000 in traditional album sales. It surpasses the opening week of his first album, Dreams and Nightmares, which launched with 165,000 in 2012.

Further, Meek Mill’s new set garners the fourth largest sales frame for an album in 2015, following the debuts of Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (495,000), Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (324,000) and Mumford & Sons’ Wilder Mind (231,000).

Meek Mill is the fifth act in a row to earn their first No. 1 album. He follows Breaking Benjamin (with Dark Before Dawn), James Taylor (Before This World), Muse (Drones) and Florence + the Machine (How Big How Blue How Beautiful).

The top slot hasn’t had this many successive newly-crowned No. 1 acts in 14 years. Back in July of 2001, Alicia Keys was the sixth act in a row to score their first No. 1. Her Songs In A Minor opened atop the chart dated July 14. It was preceded by the first leaders for D12 (Devil’s Night), Blink-182 (Take Off Your Pants and Jacket), Staind (Break the Cycle), Tool (Lateralus) and Destiny’s Child (Survivor).