Mac Miller Tops Album Sales, Rap Albums Charts With ‘Balloonerism’

Mac Miller’s Balloonerism bows at No. 1 across multiple Billboard album charts, including Top Album Sales, Top Rap Albums, Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales. Plus, seven of the album’s tracks dot the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Balloonerism’s songs date back to 2014, but the project was shelved in favor of other releases.

Balloonerism is the second No. 1 on Top Album Sales for Miller, who died in 2018. It’s also his third leader on Top Rap Albums, his sixth chart-topper on Vinyl Albums and his first on the Indie Store Album Sales ranking.

Balloonerism sold a little over 41,000 copies in the U.S. in the tracking week ending Jan. 23, according to Luminate. Vinyl sales comprise the bulk of that sum – 32,000, marking his best sales week ever on vinyl.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

On Top Album Sales, Miller triumphs over a surging Gracie Abrams, whose The Secret of Us vaults 33-2 with 21,000 sold (up 689% after the vinyl and CD release of a deluxe edition of the album). Rounding out the rest of the top 10: the Wicked soundtrack (moving 2-3), Stray Kids’ HOP (5-4), Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (3-5), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet (holding at No. 6), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (9-7), ROSÉ’s Rosie (11-8), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (13-9) and Tyler, The Creator’s IGOR (15-10).

On the Billboard 200, Balloonerism debuts at No. 3 – the eighth top 10-charting set for Miller on that ranking.

Miller On the R&B/Hip-Hop & Rap Charts: Miller earns his third No. 1 on the Top Rap Albums chart. He first ruled with Blue Slide Park in 2011 and followed with The Divine Feminine in 2016, both of which led for one week. On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list, Balloonerism debuts at No. 2 andgives the late rapper his seventh top 10 effort. In addition to the No. 1s Blue Slide Park and The Divine Feminine, he also reached the region with Watching Movies With the Sound Off (No. 3 in 2013); GO:OD AM (No. 2, 2015); Swimming (No. 3, 2018) and Faces (No. 3, 2021).

Seven of Balloonerism’s tracks land on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, led by a No. 16 debut for “Funny Papers.” The arrival instantly makes it Miller’s second-highest peak on the chart among his 23 entries, trailing only the No. 10 best for “Good News” in 2020.

Notable among the other tracks, “5 Dollar Pony Rides” bolts 32-19 in its second week on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and wins the weekly Streaming Gainer and Sales Gainer honors. “DJ’s Chord Organ,” featuring SZA, begins at No. 23 and opens at No. 7 on the Hot R&B Songs chart.

Over On the Billboard Hot 100: On the all-genre, multi-metric Hot 100, four of the album’s songs debut: “Funny Papers” (No. 77), “5 Dollar Pony Rides” (No. 85), “DJ’s Chord Organ” (No. 95) and “Stoned” (No. 97).

Miller Hits a New Peak on the Billboard Artist 100 Chart: Activity surrounding Ballonerism drives Miller 66-2 on the Billboard Artist 100, a new peak for the rapper at his 83rd nonconsecutive week on the chart. The Billboard Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption – album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming – to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of the most popular artists in the U.S.