De La Soul’s first album in 12 years, the Kickstarter-backed and the Anonymous Nobody…, scores the group its first No. 1 on Top Rap Albums, since the chart began in 2004. (The group first reached the Billboard charts back in 1989 with 3 Feet High and Rising.)
Anonymous leads the chart with 21,000 copies sold in the week ending Sept. 1 (according to Nielsen Music). Over on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, it enters at No. 3, the veteran hip-hop act’s best showing on the list since 2000 when Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump also landed at No. 3 (81,000 copies).
The trio, who have been performing together for 28 years, earned their first — and so far only — No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with 3 Feet High and Rising, spending five weeks atop the chart in 1989. In all, they have placed nine albums on the chart, while 12 tracks have landed on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart from 1989 through 2002, including a No. 1 with their debut chart hit “Me Myself And I,” from 3 Feet High.
The new set — which boasts a diverse set of collaborators, including David Byrne, Jill Scott and 2 Chainz — also tops the latest Vinyl Albums chart, with over 2,000 LPs sold. Vinyl sales were mainly driven by customers that backed the album’s Kickstarter campaign, which offered a limited edition vinyl version of the album (2,500 were made).
The entire Kickstarter campaign drew over 11,000 backers and raised $601,000. According to the site, it is the second most funded music campaign ever (after Amanda Palmer’s 2011 campaign that raised $1,193,000 with 25,000 backers).
A 34-minute documentary about the creation of the De La Soul album and the crowd-funding process was released on the act’s YouTube channel on Aug. 26.
The group concurrently debuts at No. 49 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart. The chart blends album sales, track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media data to measure the week’s most popular artists across all genres.
SOURCE:billboard.com
