With more albums sold in the US in the first half of 2021 than BTS, Eminem sits in the Top 10 of best selling artists and the Top 5 best selling rappers.
@Chart Data published these rankings, showing Drake’s unwavering commercial dominance over the genre. With over 1.43 million album units sold in the US since January, Eminem holds No.4 on the list.
Best selling rappers by total album units in the US this year:
1. Drake
2. Juice WRLD
3. YoungBoy NBA
4. Eminem
5. J Cole
6. Pop Smoke
7. RodWave
8. Lil Baby
9. Lil Durk
10. Polo G
Best selling rappers by total album units in the US this year:
#1 @Drake
#2 Juice WRLD
#3 YoungBoy Never Broke Again
#4 @Eminem
#5 @JColeNC
#6 Pop Smoke
#7 @rodwave
#8 @lilbaby4PF
#9 @lildurk
#10 @Polo_Capalot— chart data (@chartdata) July 15, 2021
Drake had to let Taylor Swift through to the top spot on the industry list that included the most commercially successful artists across all genres. With country superstar Morgan Wallen, all-time pop-darling Justin Bieber and new sensation Olivia Rodrigo added to the mix, Eminem took a back seat yet still held his ground in the Top 10.
Best selling artists by total album units in the US this year:
1. Taylor Swift
2. Drake
3. Morgan Wallen
4. The Weeknd
5. Juice WRLD
6. YoungBoy NBA
7. Olivia Rodrigo
8. Justin Bieber
9. Eminem
10. BTS
Best selling artists by total album units in the US this year:
#1 @taylorswift13
#2 @Drake
#3 @MorganWallen
#4 @theweeknd
#5 Juice WRLD
#6 YoungBoy Never Broke Again
#7 @Olivia_Rodrigo
#8 @justinbieber
#9 @Eminem
#10 @BTS_twt— chart data (@chartdata) July 16, 2021
What is always a little bit confusing with lists of that kind is that often they do not provide numbers they are based on. But sometimes, a short digging around can bring helpful insights. Shortly before publishing the general ranking, the same account reported on BTS selling numbers, this time providing actual digits:
BTS was the best selling group in the first half of 2021 in the US by total album units (1.43 million).
.@BTS_twt was the best selling group in the first half of 2021 in the US by total album units (1.43 million).
— chart data (@chartdata) July 15, 2021
Considering that Eminem on the list was ranked higher than BTS, we can reliably conclude that Marshall has sold more album units in the US this year than the South Korean band. How much exactly? Well, the industry prefers not to make this information easily accessible. But “over 1.43 million” is the number we can easily call.
