Morgan Wallen’s ‘I’m the Problem’ Album Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Year’s Biggest Debut

Morgan Wallen’s latest studio effort, I’m the Problem, debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart (dated May 31) with the year’s biggest week for any album — 493,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 22, according to Luminate. It also easily lands the largest streaming week for any album in 2025.

It’s the third No. 1 for Wallen on the Billboard 200, following 2023’s One Thing at a Time (19 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1) and 2021’s Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks at No. 1, all consecutive). The latter two titles both debuted at No. 1 and have never left the weekly top 50 of the chart. On the latest chart, One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 4 (making Wallen the only act with two concurrent albums in the weekly top five in 2025), while Dangerous shifts 11-12.

I’m the Problem was officially announced in mid-March, and was preceded by eight charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over the past 10 months, all of which reached the top 20 of the ranking, including six top 10s (the most top 10s ever from an album prior to its release). Among them were the No. 1 “Love Somebody,” which debuted atop the list last November, and the album’s title track (No. 2 in February).

Also in the latest Billboard 200 top 10, Jin notches his highest-charting effort as Echo launches at No. 3. The BTS member previously hit the top 10 as a soloist with Happy (No. 4) in 2024.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 31, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 28, one day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. on May 26. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of I’m the Problem’s 493,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 357,000 (equaling 462.63 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 37 tracks; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 133,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 3,000.

I’m the Problem is the fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2025, of 14 total, to also simultaneously be No. 1 on both Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums, following Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia (May 24), Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM (March 22), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX (Feb. 22) and The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (Feb. 15).

I’m the Problem captures 2025’s biggest week by equivalent album units earned. The last bigger week was the opening frame of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department over a year ago. It bowed at No. 1 with 2.61 million units on the May 4, 2024-dated chart.

With 357,000 SEA units equaling 462.63 million on-demand official streams of I’m the Problem’s 37 tracks, the set logs the largest streaming week of 2025 for any album, and the biggest since The Tortured Poets Department’s first week, which snared 891.37 million. I’m the Problem also tallies the second-biggest streaming week ever for any country album, trailing only the opening week of Wallen’s last album, One Thing at a Time, which bowed with 498.28 million clicks.

Meanwhile, with 133,000 copies sold in its first week, I’m the Problem captures Wallen’s biggest sales week ever, the biggest sales week for any country album in 2025 and the fourth-largest sales frame in 2025 among all albums. The last country set to post a bigger sales week was Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, when it debuted with 168,000 sold (April 13, 2024-dated chart). I’m the Problem’s sales were helped by its availability on vinyl in its first week. Wallen’s last album, One Thing at a Time, didn’t get its vinyl release until its fourth week on sale.

During its first week, I’m the Problem was available to purchase across five vinyl variants (standard black vinyl, a “first pressing” black vinyl, bone white-colored, coke bottle clear-colored [all exclusively sold in Wallen’s webstore] and a Target-exclusive opaque brown-color edition with a collectible insert), four CD variants (standard, a deluxe boxed set containing a branded T-shirt, a signed CD and a Target-exclusive edition with a collectible insert) and a standard digital download. All variations of the album had the same 37 tracks. All told, of I’m the Problem’s first-week sales, digital downloads comprise 51,000, vinyl comprise 48,000 (Wallen’s best week on vinyl ever, and the largest week for a country album in 2025) and CDs comprise 34,000.

SZA’s chart-topping SOS rises one spot to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200, earning 47,000 equivalent album units — down 8%.

Jin nabs his highest-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Echo arrives at No. 3. It’s the second charting solo set for the BTS member, who previously hit the chart with the No. 4-peaking Happy in November 2024.

Echo debuts with 43,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 35,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 6,000 (equaling 8.92 million of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 2,000. Echo’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across 13 CD variants (all have the standard seven-song tracklist and contain collectible branded paper ephemera) and five download album variants (a standard wide version, a version exclusive to Jin’s webstore containing a bonus voice memo track and three widely available deluxe editions each containing two different remixes of the album’s “Don’t Say You Love Me”).

Nos. 4-9 on the new Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is steady at No. 4 (42,000 equivalent album units; down 13%); Kendrick Lamar’s GNX rises 7-5 (41,000; down 5%); Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia falls 1-6 in its second week (38,000; down 70%); Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet steps 8-7 (just over 37,000; down 6%); PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U drops 5-8 (37,000; down 21%); and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos climbs 10-9 (nearly 37,000; down 3%).

Fuerza Regida’s 111XPANTIA closes out the top 10, falling 6-10 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned (down 26%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.