UK grime artist Stormzy has taken the number one album spot in the charts with his debut record Gang Signs & Prayers.
The MC took the top spot with combined chart sales of 69,000 to beat Rag’N’Bone Man to number one, according to the Official Charts Company.
The record has racked up the most first-week streams for a number one album in chart history, surpassing the opening week of streaming giant Drake, and even surpassing the first-week streams of the powerhouse that is Justin Bieber and his latest album Purpose. Purpose still holds the record for most streams ever recorded in a single week, which it achieved in its second week on chart at the number two position.
Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, Stormzy said: ‘It hasn’t sunk in yet. Honestly, I wish I could take every person who bought and streamed the album out with me, have dinner with them, dedicate a whole night to them. I don’t take your support for granted. I can’t thank you enough.’
Stormzy has set a new bar for grime’s commercial success, bettering the first week performance of many other huge albums from the scene's leading figures.
Gang Signs & Prayer is a faster-selling than Skepta's Konnichiwa, Kano's Made in the Manor and Giggs' Landlord. The album also pips the opening week of Dizzee Rascal's Mercury Prize winning Boy in da Corner from 2003 by nearly 10 copies to one.
Tinie Tempah's Disc-Overy is the only other grime-influenced record to have reached the top of the chart back in 2010.
Read our feature from last year on the UK grime revival.
The MC took the top spot with combined chart sales of 69,000 to beat Rag’N’Bone Man to number one, according to the Official Charts Company.
The record has racked up the most first-week streams for a number one album in chart history, surpassing the opening week of streaming giant Drake, and even surpassing the first-week streams of the powerhouse that is Justin Bieber and his latest album Purpose. Purpose still holds the record for most streams ever recorded in a single week, which it achieved in its second week on chart at the number two position.
Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, Stormzy said: ‘It hasn’t sunk in yet. Honestly, I wish I could take every person who bought and streamed the album out with me, have dinner with them, dedicate a whole night to them. I don’t take your support for granted. I can’t thank you enough.’
Stormzy has set a new bar for grime’s commercial success, bettering the first week performance of many other huge albums from the scene's leading figures.
Gang Signs & Prayer is a faster-selling than Skepta's Konnichiwa, Kano's Made in the Manor and Giggs' Landlord. The album also pips the opening week of Dizzee Rascal's Mercury Prize winning Boy in da Corner from 2003 by nearly 10 copies to one.
Tinie Tempah's Disc-Overy is the only other grime-influenced record to have reached the top of the chart back in 2010.
Read our feature from last year on the UK grime revival.
