Nielsen Music's Mid-Year 2017 Charts: Kendrick Lamar Leads R&B/Hip-Hop Genre

More than 25 percent of all music consumed in the U.S. so far in 2017 is R&B/hip-hop.

Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. leads Nielsen Music's mid-year R&B/hip-hop charts for 2017, as the Billboard 200-topping set earned 1.77 million equivalent album units during the tracking period of Dec. 30, 2016 through June 29, 2017.(Equivalent album units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums [TEA] and streaming equivalent albums [SEA].) 

DAMN. debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart dated May 6, marking Lamar's third No. 1 album.

The set is one of four R&B/hip-hop efforts to earn more than a million units in the first half of 2017. It's followed by Drake's More Life (1.69 million), Bruno Mars' 24K Magic (1.11 million) and Migos' Culture (1 million).

According to Nielsen, the R&B/hip-hop genre represents 25.1 percent of all music consumption in the U.S. -- the largest share of any genre and the first time R&B/hip-hop has led this measurement. (The 25.1 percent share represents a combination of album sales, track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units – including video streams.) The rock genre, which had always earned the largest share among genres, slips to second place with 23 percent of total volume.

Total R&B/hip-hop album consumption, as measured by equivalent album units (album sales, TEA and on-demand audio SEA), rose by 17 percent to 57.76 million units in the first six months of 2017. At mid-year in 2016, the genre yielded 49.38 million equivalent album units.

Traditional album sales for R&B/hip-hop continue to erode, declining 27.5 percent (down to 13.9 million compared to 19.17 million a year ago), while R&B/hip-hop digital song sales also fell 29 percent (down to 65.87 million from 92.82 million). The top selling R&B/hip-hop digital song in the first six months of 2017 was Mars' "That's What I Like," with 1.38 million downloads sold.

Total on-demand streams (audio and video combined) of R&B/hip-hop songs grew 58.4 percent in the first half of 2017 (climbing to 82.90 million versus 52.34 million a year ago). On-demand audio streams rose 78.1 percent (55.91 million in 2017 versus 31.39 million in 2016) and on-demand video streams jumped 28.9 percent (26.99 million in 2017 compared to 20.95 million in 2016).

R&B/hip-hop represents 30.3 percent of on-demand audio streaming volume so far in 2017, with rock music trailing far behind with 18.1 percent of on-demand audio streams. As for on-demand video streams, again, R&B/hip-hop is the dominant genre, with 26.9 percent of all video clicks coming from the genre. The next biggest genre in the video streaming landscape is Latin, with 15.2 percent of the volume (thanks in part to the massive hit "Despacito," by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber).

2017's Mid-Year Top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Based on Overall Equivalent Album Units)
1. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. (1,772,000)
2. Drake, More Life (1,693,000)
3. Bruno Mars, 24K Magic (1,110,000)
4. Migos, Culture (1,002,000)
5. The Weeknd, Starboy (981,000)
6. Future, Future (760,000)
7. Big Sean, I Decided (696,000)
8. Drake, Views (563,000)
9. Khalid, American Teen (492,000)
10. Future, HNDRXX (450,000)

2017's Mid-Year Top 10 Selling R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
1. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. (678,000)
2. Bruno Mars, 24K Magic (494,000)
3. Drake, More Life (343,000)
4. Logic, Everybody (224,000)
5. The Weeknd, Starboy (213,000)
6. Beyoncé, Lemonade (185,000)
7. Rick Ross, Rather You Than Me (156,000)
8. Big Sean, I Decided (142,000)
9. J. Cole, 4 Your Eyez Only (127,000)
10. Mary J. Blige, Strength of a Woman (127,000)

2017's Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Digital R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
1. Bruno Mars, "That's What I Like" (1,377,000)
2. Bruno Mars, "24K Magic" (769,000)
3. DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne, "I'm the One" (761,000)
4. Kyle featuring Lil Yachty, "ISpy" (732,000)
5. The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk, "I Feel It Coming" (730,000)
6. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." (696,000)
7. Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert, "Bad and Boujee" (688,000)
8. Post Malone featuring Quavo, "Congratulations" (586,000)
9. Rihanna, "Love on the Brain" (577,000)
10. Future, "Mask Off" (524,000)

2017's Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand R&B/Hip-Hop Song Streams (Audio and Video Combined)
1. Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert, "Bad and Boujee" (648,129,000)
2. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." (519,887,000)
3. Future, "Mask Off" (505,473,000)
4. Kyle featuring Lil Yachty, "ISpy" (494,113,000)
5. Post Malone featuring Quavo, "Congratulations" (483,252,000)
6. Lil Uzi Vert, "XO Tour Llif3" (474,220,000)
7. Kodak Black, "Tunnel Vision" (388,186,000)
8. Migos, "T-shirt" (357,219,000)
9. Rae Sremmurd, "Swang" (334,765,000)
10. DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne, "I'm the One" (331,488,000)

2017's Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand R&B/Hip-Hop Audio Streams
1. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." (345,980,000)
2. Future, "Mask Off" (327,281,000)
3. Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert, "Bad and Boujee" (313,596,000)
4. Lil Uzi Vert, "XO Tour Llif3" (277,610,000)
5. Post Malone featuring Quavo, "Congratulations" (273,964,000)
6. Kyle featuring Lil Yachty, "ISpy" (271,734,000)
7. Big Sean, "Bounce Back" (230,278,000)
8. Kodak Black, "Tunnel Vision" (388,186,000)
9. Khalid, "Location" (226,744,000)
10. Drake, "Fake Love" (216,701,000)

2017's Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand R&B/Hip-Hop Video Streams
1. Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert, "Bad and Boujee" (334,533,000)
2. Kyle featuring Lil Yachty, "ISpy" (222,376,000)
3. Post Malone featuring Quavo, "Congratulations" (209,288,000)
4. Ayo & Teo, "Rolex" (199,244,000)
5. Lil Uzi Vert, "XO Tour Llif3" (196,611,000)
6. Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall, "Juju On That Beat (TZ Anthem)" (196,524,000)
7. Rae Sremmurd, "Swang" (188,790,000)
8. Future, "Mask Off" (178,192,000)
9. Kendrick Lamar, "Humble." (173,907,000)
10. Kodak Black, "Tunnel Vision" (159,452,000)

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period of Dec. 30, 2016 – June 29, 2017.

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