Cardi B Scores Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘AM I THE DRAMA?’

Cardi B scores her 2nd No. 1 connected the Billboard 200 albums illustration arsenic AM I THE DRAMA? debuts atop the tally (dated Oct. 4) with 200,000 equivalent medium units earned successful the United States successful the week ending Sept. 25, according to Luminate. That marks 2025’s biggest week for an R&B/hip-hop medium by a woman. AM I THE DRAMA? is Cardi B’s 2nd full-length workplace project, and follows her chart-topping debut, Invasion of Privacy, successful 2018.

Also successful the apical 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Nine Inch Nails’ soundtrack to TRON: Ares debuts astatine No. 5, marking the archetypal apical 10 for the set since 2013.

The Billboard 200 illustration ranks the astir fashionable albums of the week successful the U.S. based connected multi-metric depletion arsenic measured successful equivalent medium units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise medium sales, way equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each portion equals 1 medium sale, oregon 10 idiosyncratic tracks sold from an album, oregon 3,750 ad-supported oregon 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand authoritative audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The caller Oct. 4, 2025-dated illustration volition beryllium posted successful afloat on Billboard‘s website connected Sept. 30. For each illustration news, travel @billboard and @billboardcharts connected some X, formerly known arsenic Twitter, and Instagram.

Of AM I THE DRAMA?’s 200,000 first-week equivalent medium units, SEA units comprise 110,000 (equaling 145.72 cardinal on-demand authoritative streams of the set’s songs during the tracking week — it besides debuts astatine No. 1 connected Top Streaming Albums), medium income comprise 88,000 (it debuts astatine No. 1 connected Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000.

AM I THE DRAMA?’s opening-week income were boosted by its availability crossed an array of permutations. It was issued arsenic a modular 19-song wide disposable integer download album; 20-song CD and vinyl editions; and a 23-song download and streaming edition. There were besides further integer variants: an iTunes Store and Apple Music variation with bonus unrecorded video tracks, a 30-track creator webstore-exclusive variation and 2 wide disposable expanded editions (with 24 tracks each).

The CD and vinyl variants for AM I THE DRAMA? were mostly lone disposable done Cardi B’s webstore and done immoderate autarkic grounds stores. AM I THE DRAMA? was issued connected 2 modular CD variants (one signed by the artist), 7 further CD screen variants (four of them signed, inclusive of 3 versions with screen creation showing gone-viral photos of the creator connected the basal during her assault trial successful August, dubbed the “courtroom edition”) and 8 deluxe CD boxed sets containing merchandise and a CD. The medium was besides issued connected 2 modular vinyl editions (one signed) and 9 further vinyl variants (some with antithetic covers and/or colour vinyl, astir of them signed, including a “courtroom edition” screen variant).

In summation to a emblematic promotional property run to rise consciousness of the album’s release, the creator besides mounted a engaged docket of in-store appearances during merchandise week, doing photograph ops and meet-and-greets with fans purchasing the album. During merchandise week, she deed 4 autarkic grounds stores (Looney Tunes successful West Babylon, N.Y.; Spin Me Round successful Easton, Pa.; DBS Sounds successful Riverdale, Ga.; and Fingerprints successful Long Beach, Calif.) and a Hot Topic determination successful Elmhurst, N.Y. and a Walmart successful Cypress, Texas.

The wide disposable editions of AM I THE DRAMA? incorporate the Billboard Hot 100-charted hits “Outside” (No. 10 highest successful July), “Imaginary Playerz” (No. 70 successful August), “Up” (No. 1 successful March 2021) and “WAP” (featuring Megan Thee Stallion, No. 1 successful August 2020).

The chart-topping KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack holds astatine No. 2 with 104,000 equivalent medium units earned (down 7%). The acceptable besides notches a 10th week wrong the apical 2 connected the Billboard 200, marking the astir weeks wrong the apical 2 for a soundtrack since the Frozen medium logged 21 no...