Jhené Aiko Achieves First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With ‘Westside Whimsy’
It’s the first R&B album by a woman to top the chart this year.
Jhené Aiko has achieved a major milestone in her music career as her album 'Westside Whimsy' has debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 charts. This marks her first No. 1 album in the United States, and the first R&B album by a woman to achieve this feat in 2026. The success of 'Westside Whimsy' comes after its release on September 11, following the announcement on September 8. The album features collaborations with artists such as Ab-Soul, Larry June, Kendrick Lamar, Ohma, and Tyga.
The album debuted with an impressive 74,000 equivalent album units in the week ending September 17, according to Luminate data. This figure includes album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). SEA units alone accounted for 70,000 units, totaling an estimated 71.33 million on-demand official streams of the album's songs. Album sales contributed 3,500 units, and TEA units comprised the remaining 500 units.
With this achievement, Aiko becomes the second act to wait at least ten years from a Billboard 200 chart debut to a first No. 1. She had previously released her album 'Sail Out' in November 2013, and it took her 12 years and 10 months to reach her first top spot. Other notable Billboard 200 chart achievements include Megadeth's self-titled album, which secured its first No. 1 after nearly 40 years since its chart debut in 1986.
The last soloist to wait this long for a first No. 1 was Andrea Bocelli, with a wait time of over 20 years for his album 'Sì' in 2018.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
