How the tables have turned. Starting at the end of last week, the iTunes charts were dominated by one artist: the late, great Prince. Since the arrival of Beyoncé's new Lemonade (Columbia) following Saturday night's bow of her lavishly mounted HBO special, however, those charts have been ruled by one artist: Queen Bey.
Currently, Bey has the top six tracks, led by "Formation" at #1, and 12 of the Top 15. Considering that the album has 12 tracks, that's, um, not bad. Only Drake's monster "One Dance" (#7) and Prince's "Purple Rain" (#8) can claim any Top 10 territory at the moment.
Meanwhile, the full set is #1 on the album side (in the clean edition) and also #5 (in the explicit edition). Prince still occupies five spots in the Top 10 albums.
The remaining tracks, in order of their current ranking: "Hold Up" (#2), "Sorry" (#3) "6 Inch" f/The Weeknd (#4), "Freedom" f/Kendrick Lamar (#5) "Don't Hurt Yourself" f/Jack White (#6) "All Night" (#9), "Pray You Catch Me" (#10) "Sandcastles" (#11), "Daddy Lessons" (#12) and "Love Drought" (#14).
You say you'd prefer to stream the album? Get thee to Tidal. Bey's hubby's streamery appears to have put a ring on it for that particular platform, forever and ever, amen.
How much Lemonade will America consume in week one? Estimates are currently in the 500k-600k range. Stay tuned.