Travis Scott’s ‘Utopia’ Debuts With the Second Biggest Streaming Numbers of 2023

variety.com:

Thania Garcia Travis Scott’s features-loaded “Utopia” tops the albums list this week at No. 1, touting the third-biggest week of 2023 for any album (behind Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift) and the second-largest streaming week of the year.

The 19-song set expands on Scott’s discography after several years of hiatus between this and his last full-length, 2018’s “Astroworld.” That album and Scott’s image at the time were badly tarnished by the deaths that occurred at his 2021 Astroworld festival and he remained relatively low-key — appearing as a featured artist on other songs and limiting his live appearances.

However, the prospect of “Utopia” had already been circulating online, since Scott had been teasing the album in the year prior.

That anticipation was reflected in its opening stats: 496,000 units earned in the U.S., plus two singles in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, 331 million streams and the biggest vinyl sales week for a hip-hop or rap album since Luminate (the data company behind the Billboard charts) began tracking sales in 1991.