Travis Scott’s ‘UTOPIA’ Is First Rap Album of 2023 to Stay No. 1 for Two Weeks

On Sunday (August 13), Billboard announced that Travis Scott’s fourth studio album UTOPIA earned the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart for the second week in a row. Helping bolster hip-hop in a year where its chart domination has declined, UTOPIA‘s two-week reign is now the longest a rap project has stayed at No. 1 this year, surpassing the one-week record set by Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape earlier this summer.

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In its second week since its July 28 release, UTOPIA sold 147,000 copies, 349,000 less than its debut week at 496,000. However, Scott’s numbers this week are similar to Uzi’s first-week sales for their aforementioned LP, which came in at 167,000, dwindling down to 61,000 the next week. Additionally, UTOPIA is the first rap album to clock in at No. 1 for its first two weeks since Drake’s Certified Lover Boy in the fall of 2021, where it lasted on top for three consecutive weeks.

In the days and weeks following UTOPIA, Scott’s promotion of the LP has been full-throttle. On top of playing a celebratory release show in Rome, Italy, where he brought out Kanye West and garnered a complaint from Roman officials due to rowdiness, the Houston rapper has also prepared plans for an impending tour. While dates for the tour had reportedly leaked at the beginning of last week, Scott still has not confirmed the full schedule, but likely will any day now.

“UTOPIA TOUR SOON,” Scott wrote on Instagram on August 8. “(U.S.) AND (Europe) DATES SOON TO BE (announced). I MISS THE ROAD I MISSS YALLLL.”

When learning that Scott is looking to return to his hometown for a UTOPIA show this fall, his first performance since the disastrous Astroworld Festival in 2021, Houston officials had some mixed feelings. Although the mayor Sylvester Turner felt reassured that the Toyota Center in Houston would make for a safe venue, Houston police issued a statement of concern.

“This is outrageous and the HPOU will be calling for all of our elected officials to stand up and say, ‘Not in our city, not again!’” HPD Union President Douglas Griffith said regarding a potential UTOPIA concert.

Scott’s show in Houston is expected to take place on October 19.

Photo by Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images

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