Local rapper Huskii sees his debut studio album “Antihero” enter at No.1 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
“Antihero” (Ben Hayden/Island Australia) is the 936th No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2022), the 787th for ARIA (1983 to 2022), the fourth (new) No.1 for 2022 (fifth if you count Adele at the start of the year), the 573rd to debut at the top of the Albums chart and the 31st for the Island Record label (since their first in December of 1971 for Cat Stevens).
The Sydney rapper was born Ben Hayden in Wollongong in 1992, and his first set becomes the first to debut at No.1 since Ruby Fields in early October of 2021, with the last Solo Male Artist to do this being Luke Hemmings on August 23rd, 2021, while the last local act at the top was Rufus du Sol on November 1st, 2021 with “Surrender”, making Huskii the first Australian act to hit the top for 2022, plus he also becomes the 128th Aussie act (male, female, duo or group) and the 34th Solo Australian Male Artist to make it to No.1 locally.
This is the first time that the word ‘antihero’ has appeared in a No.1 Albums’ title, and also it’s first ever Top 100 appearance, while the new chart-topper becomes the 266th by an Australian Act (solo male or female, duo or group), and the 268th by a Solo Male Artist (local or overseas), plus the third for 2022 after Meat Loaf (Jan 31st) and The Weeknd (from Jan 17th).
Rebounding one place to it’s former peak of No.2 for a third stint is the ‘Encanto’ soundtrack, having previously been this high on January 31st and February 7th, while the album is again at No.1 in The U.S.A. (5th week), England and Canada (both third week). “SOUR” for Olivia Rodrigo moves back up two places to No.3, followed by a non-mover at No.4 in the Adele fourth album “30”, and the biggest climber within the Top 10 is a four place rise to No.5 for the Doja Cat third set “Planet Her”.
The second and third Top 10 debuts this week occur at No.6 and No.8, with the fourth studio album for British indie act alt-J called “The Dream” landing at No.6, also becoming their fourth Top 10 album after “An Awesome Wave” (LP#1, HP-9, June 2012), “This is All Yours” (LP#2, HP-2, Oct. 2014) and their last entry was with “Relaxer” (LP#3, HP-4, June 2017). The third studio album for Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder is called “Earthling”, and it arrives at No.8, becoming his second Top 10 placement and third solo chart entry after his first and the soundtrack to ‘Into the Wild” (HP-39, Sept. 2007) and his last solo effort was “Ukulele Songs” (LP#2, HP-6, June 2011).
Ed Sheeran debuts at No.11 on the singles chart this week with a duet version with Taylor Swift of his “= (Equals)” album track “The Joker and The Queen”, which has helped his album to rebound three spots this week to No.7, while the albums two singles “Shivers” and “Bad Habits” reside at No.6 and No.8 respectively. The Weeknd occupies the last two Top 10 places this week, with his latest studio set “Dawn FM” down one place to No.9 and his one-year old collection “The Highlights” back up one spot to No.10, garnering a 31st week within the Top 10.
UP:
Taylor Swift rises with her “Red (TsV)” album by two spots to No.12, but jumps back up fourteen places to No.17 with her “Lover” set, thanks to it’s #11 vinyl placements this week, while her #10 spot on the vinyl chart is taken up by “Reputation”, which is only up one spot to No.33 within the Top 50.
The 56th Super Bowl occurred this past week, and it’s California based half-time show saw Dr. Dre performing alongside Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Mary J, Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem, with two of those acts benefiting in upward rises this week for Eminem’s “Curtain Call: The Hits” jumping seven spots to No.14 and the 1999 Dr. Dre set “2001” bullets up fifty places to land at No.34, the album’s highest placement since it’s ‘Compton’ return in August of 2015 when the set scored a new overall peak of No.26 on September 14th, 2015.
Kanye West is set to drop his “DONDA 2” album during this coming week, and his “DONDA” album was issued as a 2CD set last week, which helps it to climb back up twenty-nine places to No.16. After which the next major climb occurs for Spacey Jane’s “Sunlight” album, rebounding fifteen spots to No.39 thanks to it’s No.6 vinyl spot this week. Ahead of them on that chart at No.5 is the Tame Impala set “Currents”, which helps it to climb back up forty chart-rungs to No.43, followed by the last climbing album for this week, a six place rise to No.44 for Bruno Mars’ “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”.
DOWN:
All four of the Top 10 dropouts this week leave the entire Top 50, with last week’s No.1 debut by Korn and “Requiem” falling, alongside “Songs of Disappearance” by Australian Bird Calls (HP-2, WI10-3a), Black Country, New Road and “Ants from Up Here” (#6) and Mitski with “Lauren Hell” (#7).
The first major drop outside of the Top 10 is a four place slip to No.21 for the Billie Eilish second album “Happier Than Ever”, the third time it’s sat in this position, which is also it’s lowest chart placement, having last been this low on Nov. 29th and Dec. 6th, 2021. There are three place drops for Drake and “Certified Lover Boy” (20 to No.23), “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac (23 to No.26) and Pop Smoke’s “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon” (26 to No.29), while in-between those three is a nine place fall to No.25 for the ‘Sing 2′ soundtrack.
Taylor’s only falling album is her “folklore” set, down four to No.32, with a ten place slide occurring for the Lil’ Nas X debut album “Montero”, down to No.35. Adele’s “25” slips five to No.38, as does the Morgan Wallen “Dangerous” set to No.46. Lewis Capaldi’s debut set falls seven to No.47 and the Bon Jovi “Greatest Hits” set drops back down eight to No.50.
FURTHER NEW ENTRIES:
* #19 (LP#5) – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You by Big Thief (Big Thief/4AD) is the fifth studio album for the New York indie rock band and now their second chart entry and first Top 50 berth, as their last set “Two Hands” (LP#4) made it to No.99 in October 2019.
* #31 (TV.S/T) – Euphoria: Season 1 by Labrinth (HBO/Sony) is the music from the HBO TV series starring Zendaya which premiered in 2019 and is two episodes shy of it’s second season ending. This album was first issued in October of 2019, with the music performed by British artist Labrinth, while the album has already seen a chart entry in the single “Still Don’t Know My Name” (HP-57, 14-Sept, 2020). There is also a separate alternate soundtrack to the first series, plus the second season soundtrack will be out next Friday the 25th digitally, and on April 22nd physically, with Lana Del Rey’s recent release “Watercolor Eyes” being the first single from that set.
* #41 (LP#10) – Lucifer on the Sofa by Spoon (Headz/Matador) is the tenth studio album the American rock act, and now their fourth to chart locally, having previously entered the charts with “Transference” (LP#7, HP-47, Jan. 2010), “They Want My Soul” (LP#8, HP-43, August 2014) and their last was their highest charted in “Hot Thoughts” (LP#9, HP-21, March 2017).
*ARIA Chart info is based on sales for the week from the 11th to the 17th of February, 2022
Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.
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Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
