For weeks, it looked like either Halsey or Mac Miller were headed for another No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their new albums Manic and Circles, but as both sets dropped at midnight EST on Friday, Eminem surprised the world by unleashing a complete new project as well. Now, the rapper’s new project, Music to Be Murdered By, has landed atop the tally with a sizable opening frame.
Music to Be Murdered By launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 279,000 equivalent units. That total includes 117,000 actual purchases.
Under his Eminem moniker, the hip-hop superstar has now collected 10 No. 1s on the chart, an extremely rare feat, even among the biggest and most popular musicians. He has conquered the tally with most of his proper studio albums—The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), The Eminem Show (2002), Encore (2004), Relapse (2009), Recovery (2010), The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), Revival (2017) and most recently, Kamikaze (2018). He also ruled with one compilation, Curtain Call: The Hits (2005).
A soundtrack Eminem curated and created music for, 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, also controlled the list, but it was labeled as a various artist release, not his own.
Including the work he’s released as a member as a group, Eminem has scored an additional three No. 1s, bringing his career total to 13. As one of several performers in D12, the rapper was instrumental in sending both Devil’s Night (2001) and D12 World (2004) to the top. With Bad Meets Evil (made up of Eminem and Royce da 5’9″), he rose to the peak position with Hell: The Sequel in 2011
Only one Eminem release, his breakout effort The Slim Shady LP (1999), missed the top rung. That release settled for the runner-up slot, but it turned him into a superstar. The rapper has taken part in many other projects that reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, but none were presented as Eminem albums, so they don’t count toward his career total.
Since Music to Be Murdered By was a surprise release, none of the songs featured on the tracklist have appeared on any Billboard chart, though there’s a good chance that quite a few will make their way to the Hot 100 (and plenty of other genre-specific lists) when they refresh in a day or so.