Kendrick Lamar’s sixth studio album, GNX, rolled in at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Dropped by surprise on November 22 and off to an incredible start on streaming, GNX was projected to create a seismic shift on the chart this week. Through its first four days, the album earned 240 million streams, never falling below 50 million streams daily. Weekly sales of GNX reached 319,000 album equivalent units, scoring it the sixth-largest opening week of 2024. Streaming comprised 285,000 units from 380 million streams total and placed it at number one on Top Streaming Albums. The album yields the year’s biggest streaming week for any R&B/hip hop album and the second among all albums. The biggest weeks in streaming were the first and second weeks after Taylor Swift released The Tortured Poets Department, with 890 and 430 million, respectively. Considering that GNX has a relatively modest 12 tracks and doesn’t include earlier hits like “Not Like Us,” its streaming figures are extraordinary. In terms of album sales, it sold 32,000 copies—all through digital downloads, as there were no physical copies—landing it at number two on the Top Album Sales chart. This marks Lamar’s fifth consecutive number-one album following To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), untitled unmastered. (2016), DAMN. (2017), and Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022).

The Wicked film soundtrack entered at number two, marking the highest debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical ever. The last time a stage-to-screen musical soundtrack debuted in the top five was when Chicago danced in at number four—21 years ago. The last stage-to-screen movie musical soundtrack to reach the top two, regardless of where it debuted, was Les Miserables, which debuted at number 33 before moving up to number one. The Wicked OST sold 139,000 units—the biggest week for a full-length theatrical film soundtrack since Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born earned 162,000 in its first week. With 85,000 album sales, Wicked is number one on Top Album Sales. The soundtrack has the largest debut sales week for a stage-to-screen musical film since Dreamgirls (2006) and Les Miserables (2013) each reached more than 90,000. Wicked is available in six vinyl versions and as four different CDs. Songs from the album were streamed 67.7 million times, equivalent to 52,000 units.

Kendrick Lamar’s single “squabble up” debuted at the top of the chart—his fifth number one. His previous chart-toppers include the Taylor Swift collaboration “Bad Blood” in 2015, “HUMBLE.” in 2017, and three songs this year alone—including “Like That” in April and “Not Like Us” in May—giving him more number-one hits this year than any other artist. Ariana Grande, Post Malone, and Morgan Wallen have each had two songs at the top in 2024. “squabble up” also accumulated 52 million streams this week, claiming the top spot on the Streaming Songs chart.

Not only did Lamar snag number one, but the entire top five was populated with tracks off GNX. In order from numbers two to five, he charted “tv off,” “luther,” “wacced out murals,” and “hey now.” The only other artists in history who’ve ever dominated the entire top five are the Beatles, Drake, and Taylor Swift. With “reincarnated” at number eight and “man at the garden” at number nine as well, Lamar placed a total of seven songs in the top 10. He now has 22 top-10 hits to his name, making him the 21st artist ever to do so.

All 12 tracks off Lamar’s new album entered the top 30, ranging from number one to number 27. The rapper has now charted a total of 87 songs on the Hot 100. GNX is only the third album in history to have all its tracks land in the top 30, following SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo and Her Loss by Drake and 21 Savage.

Shaboozey’s hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” has inevitably slid to number six after a historic 19 weeks at number one. It continues its reign on the Radio Songs chart, though, celebrating its 18th week at the top. This puts the song in a three-way tie for second-longest reign of all time along with “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls (1998) and “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus (2023). The top honors go to “Blinding Lights,” released by the Weeknd in 2020 and which held on a full 26 weeks at number one. “Bar Song” also saw a boost in digital song sales, bumping the track back up to number one on that chart. Will it be enough to send it back to number one on the Hot 100 for a record-breaking 20th week? While the chances are somewhat slim, there might still be an opportunity to pull the feat off after the holiday music season comes to an end and before the Super Bowl halftime show featuring Lamar in early February.

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile,” which spent the last four weeks at number two, dropped to number seven. Meanwhile, Mariah Carey’s perennial hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” leaped up from number 16 to number 10. Streams of the song surged 52% from the previous week, hitting 26.8 million streams. Released in 1994, the holiday classic first entered the top 10 in 2017 and has consistently returned to number one annually since 2019, achieving a total of 14 weeks at the top.

The Hot 100 saw more records this week in the form of songs tumbling down the chart. First off, Sabrina Carpenter was nowhere to be found in the top 10 for the first time since the week of May 4. Her song “Espresso,” which was number five just last week, plunged to number 20 due to the influx of tracks off GNX and the return of holiday favorites. Nevertheless, at 24 weeks, Carpenter holds the record for most consecutive weeks in the top 10 with two or more songs. Second, Taylor Swift has fallen off the Hot 100, ending her 110-week streak. The last time Swift’s name appeared nowhere on the chart was October 29, 2022, just before the release of her album Midnights.

On November 25, Drake filed a legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify in which he alleges that the two companies conspired to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us.” UMG distributes both Drake and Lamar’s music. Drake claimed that UMG operated outside industry standard practices, manipulating streaming and airplay. For instance, he accused the label of negotiating lower royalties with Spotify in exchange for having “Not Like Us” appear in the results for unrelated searches. He also alleged they used influencers and bots to boost the buzz around the song on social media. One accusation even suggests Apple’s Siri assistant allegedly playing “Not Like Us” due to a deliberately manufactured error, though Apple itself was not named in the petition. The legal filing Drake submitted to New York courts is not a formal lawsuit but rather a fact-finding move ahead of potential litigation. UMG responded by dismissing the accusations as baseless lies, stating that fans simply listen to what they want.

But things didn’t stop there. The next day, Drake filed another petition, this time in a Texas court, against iHeartRadio. Similar to his allegations against Spotify, he claimed UMG paid the broadcaster to promote “Not Like Us.” Interestingly, this second petition dives further into the rapper’s grievances. According to Drake, UMG was fully aware that “Not Like Us” contained false accusations against him but neither rejected the song nor requested any changes, instead planning to make it into a viral hit.

The accusations have taken the feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar—driven by a flurry of diss tracks that defined much of 2024—in a new direction. Drake has taken up the position that the artificially inflated popularity of “Not Like Us” hurt all artists, himself included, in what he frames as a zero-sum game in the streaming market. However, this claim has sparked plenty of counterarguments. While streaming fraud and shady digital marketing are certainly real issues, critics note how odd it is to hear such accusations coming from Drake, the most successful streaming artist of all time. Back in 2018, he proved his potential when his album Scorpion showed up in Spotify playlists everywhere and his face was plastered all over the platform. The claim that Lamar’s success leads to listeners tuning into other songs less seems like a misinterpretation of the finite nature of royalties in the streaming ecosystem.

As such, many are seeing Drake’s legal moves as an effort to secure his legacy and influence. It’s worth thinking back to 2018, when he achieved unprecedented success with Scorpion and other releases even after Pusha T’s legendary diss track, “The Story of Adidon.” Fast forward to this year, and Drake’s coming to terms with the perception that he lost his feud with Kendrick Lamar, as well as that his commercial performance isn’t what it used to be. Meanwhile, “Not Like Us” has grown beyond a mere hit song into a cultural phenomenon, even inspiring memes and ridicule. By framing himself as the victim of industry-wide troubles lurking in the shadows, Drake might be attempting to shed his tarnished reputation and reassert his dominance. As we witness the commercial and critical triumph of GNX, one question remains: Can Drake return to the throne?

ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ single “APT.” remains number one on the Global 200 for a sixth week. Global streams hit 160 million, up 21% from the previous week. The song now stands at number 22 on the Hot 100. Dropping seven places from number 15, the track’s holding strong amid the arrival of GNX and the surge of holiday classics. “APT.” is also number 20 on Streaming Songs, number two on Digital Song Sales, and number 29 on Radio Songs. All figures are on the rise, especially those for digital sales and airplay. ROSÉ’s new song “number one girl” debuts at number 29 on the Global 200 and sits at the very top of the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, placing it right on the verge of cracking the Hot 100. The BLACKPINK member herself is number 48 on the Artist 100, a personal high.

G-DRAGON, TAEYANG, and DAESUNG’s single “HOME SWEET HOME” enters the Global 200 at number 34, while “POWER” returns at number 165.

ATEEZ’s EP GOLDEN HOUR: Part 2 is number 24 on the Billboard 200 and number four on Top Album Sales. The group comes in at number 24 on the Artist 100.

The ENHYPEN album ROMANCE: UNTOLD is currently number 54 on the Billboard 200 and number eight for album sales, while ENHYPEN sits at number 39 on the Artist 100.

Happy, the EP by Jin, is number 83 on the Billboard 200 and number 18 on Top Album Sales. The BTS member is currently number 59 on the Artist 100, and “Running Wild” is charting at number 33 on the Global 200.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s EP The Star Chapter: SANCTUARY is number 127 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 on Top Album Sales. The group is now number 63 on the Artist 100.

MUSE by Jimin is currently number 157 on the Billboard 200. His song “Who” is number 56 on the Hot 100, number 43 on Streaming Songs, and number 30 on the Global 200. Jimin himself is number 98 on the Artist 100.

Looking at the Top Album Sales chart, SEVENTEEN’s 12th mini album, SPILL THE FEELS, is number 28, Stray Kids’ EP ATE is number 34, and ILLIT’s EP I’LL LIKE YOU comes in at number 49. 
The KATSEYE EP SIS (Soft Is Strong) is number 11 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

Over on Emerging Artists, ILLIT is number 13 and NCT DREAM is number 22, while KATSEYE and BOYNEXTDOOR return at numbers 33 and 44, respectively.

Here’s a full look at how K-pop artists did on the Global 200 this week: