As SZA’s SOS tops the Billboard 200 for the seventh consecutive week, the acclaimed LP has broken yet another record. It is now the first R&B album to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 since Whitney Houston’s 1987 sophomore album, Whitney. Houston’s sophomore feat was the first R&B album by a woman to debut at No. 1 on the chart, reports Billboard.
Additionally, SOS is the first album by a female artist to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 25 in 2016. It is also the first album to spend seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 since the Encanto soundtrack in March 2022. The last R&B/Hip-Hop album to spend at least seven weeks topping the Billboard 200 was Drake’s Views in 2016. It spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1.
Released in December 2022, SOS ended SZA’s five-year hiatus since the arrival of her critically acclaimed debut album, CTRL. Within its first week, SOS amassed over 400 million streams, marking the biggest first-week streams ever for an R&B album and the second-biggest streaming week for a female artist.
Despite the album having fewer features than anticipated, the breakout single, “Kill Bill” has become a staple among fans on TikTok and SZA has already teased a deluxe edition of the album overall.
These monumental feats come ahead of her first arena tour. The 17-city trek kicks off in Columbus, Ohio in late February and will wrap up in Los Angeles this March.
Stream SOS below.
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Mya Abraham