Image copyright Getty Images London rapper Nines has beaten some of music’s biggest stars – including Metallica and Katy Perry – to land his first number one album.
The musician’s third album, Crabs In A Bucket, was the most streamed and downloaded record of the week.
His record had been behind Metallica’s S&M2 all week, but overtook the US metal band in the last 24 hours to claim the top spot.
Fewer than 2,000 sales separated the two, said the Official Charts Company.
Top 5 albums
Crabs In A Bucket is Nines’ third studio album, and his first on a major label, and reflects on his journey from London’s Church Road housing estate to national recognition.
The title alludes to the difficulties of leaving his past behind. Last June, the musician was stabbed in Maida Vale, a few miles from his childhood home in north-west London.
“After that success I could have been anywhere in the world,” he told The Guardian last month. “I could have booked a flight and been chilling on a beach, but I’m hanging on the estate every day, top of the charts, and look, I ended up getting stabbed.”
He added that he felt like a crab in a bucket who kept trying, and failing, to climb out.
The 20-year-old, real name Courtney Leon Freckleton, celebrated going to number one by posing with his Official Chart award outside the estate.
“Thanks to everyone that put me in this position,” he said. “Finally won a golden boot – I’m up there with Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and the rest of the golden boot winners!”
The result marks Nines’ third top five album, with his 2017 debut One Foot Out landing at number four, and 2018’s follow-up Crop Circle debuting at five.
His triumph came in a week of big releases, where every album in the top five was a new entry.
Lewis Capaldi milestone
Jazz vocalist Gregory Porter’s sixth album All Rise debuted at three, followed by dance duo Disclosure – whose long-awaited third record, Energy, charted at four.
Pop star Katy Perry scored her fourth consecutive top 10 album with Smile – improving slightly on her last record, Witness, which debuted at six in 2017.
Last week’s number one, The Killers’ Imploding The Mirage, dropped to number seven.
Meanwhile, Lewis Capaldi’s debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, sold its millionth copy this week, a major milestone for the Scottish star.
Featuring the hit singles Hold Me While You Wait and Someone You Loved, the album has spent 68 consecutive weeks in the Top 10, including 10 at number one.
It is the first British debut to sell a million since Rag ‘N’ Bone Man’s Human in 2017.
Top 5 singles
In the singles chart, rap divas Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion scored their first number one with their X-rated duet WAP.
The song’s success ended Joel Corry and MNEK’s six-week reign at the top of the charts with the club hit Head & Heart.
Calvin Harris and The Weeknd scored the highest new entry at 33, with their new collaboration Over Now – marking Harris’s 35th entry in the top 40.
Blackpink and Selena Gomez debuted at number 39 with the shimmering pop track Ice Cream – which has racked up 176 million views on YouTube in the space of a week.
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