Taylor Swift’s latest album Evermore has debuted at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, besting Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, which debuted at No. 2.
Per Billboard, Swift’s surprise ninth studio album has sold 329,000 equivalent album units, 154,500 of which come from album sales, and 167,000 from streaming. It ultimately landed right in the 300-350K range that Hits Daily Doubleprojected. Evermore is the singer’s eighth consecutive No. 1 album on the chart, and the third artist this year to score two No. 1 albums, after YoungBoy Never Broke Again (38 Baby 2 and Top) and BTS (Map of the Soul: 7 and BE).
It arrived just five months after her last critically acclaimed and companion record Folklore, which spent eight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. According to HDD, after Evermore, Swift now has the first and fifth largest debuts of 2020.
Cudi’s third chapter of the Man on the Moon series earned 144,000 equivalent album units, with 15,000 from album sales and 127,000 from streaming. The latest effort lands the rapper his fifth top 10 album, with the project underperforming from its projected 150-175K unit range.
In an interview with Zane Lowe from earlier this month, Cudi spoke at length about the new album, telling Lowe that “the universe” told him to make MOTMIII. “One of the messages I wanted people to pick up with this album is that there’s someone looking out for you on your journey," he said. "There’s something keeping us safe.”
Jack Harlow's debut album That’s What They All Say also came in at No. 5 on the chart, earning 51,000 equivalent album units.
