Rauw Alejandro has reached the summit…
The 31-year-old Puerto Rican singer and rapper’s fifth studio album, Cosa Nuestra, debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums charts dated November 30.
The set also launches at No. 6 on the overall Billboard 200, marking his highest charting set, and first top 10, among five career entries. Plus, the complete set pours onto the Hot Latin Songs chart.
Cosa Nuestra was released Nov. 15 via Duars/Sony Music Latin. The 18-track effort, an amalgam of Latin rhythmic, salsa and pop songs, invites big names into the mix, with Pharrell Williams, Romeo Santos, Laura Pausini and Bad Bunny, while Timbaland is one of six producers on the James Brown-sampling “Sexxxmachine.”
The album earns Rauw Alejandro his second No. 1 – and seventh straight top 10 – on Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums charts, after Vice Versa gave him a first No. 1 (21,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week in the U.S. in 2021, according to Luminate).
Cosa Nuestra launches with 67,000 equivalent album units in its first week ending November 21, the artist’s largest week by units earned. Of that sum, traditional album sales contribute 1,000, streaming activity comprises 66,000 units, while the remaining negligible number of units stem from track-equivalent album units.
One unit equals to one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.
Cosa Nuestra generated 66,000 in streaming equivalent album units in its first week, which equates to 87.7 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs, marking the biggest streaming week for any Latin album in 2024. It surpasses the 87.5 million generated by the first full chart tracking week of Peso Pluma’s Éxodo (July 6 chart).
As Cosa Nuestra opens with 67,000 units, it yields the second largest weekly sum for a Latin album in 2024, after Kali Uchis’ Orquídeas opened at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums with 69,000 units.
Cosa Nuestra marks the third-highest charting Latin album on the overall Billboard 200 this year, following the debut frames of Kali Uchis’ Orquídeas (No. 2 in January) and Peso Pluma’s Éxodo (No. 5 in July). On the Billboard 200, Rauw Alejandro secures his highest charting performance among five career entries. Previously, the Puerto Rican reached a No. 17 high through Vice Versa in 2021.
As Cosa Nuestra arrives, the complete album pours onto the Hot Latin Songs chart, which combines streaming data, digital sales and radio airplay into its formula. Out of those, 15 songs debut while three re-enter the multi-metric tally, including leading single “Touching The Sky” at No. 38, after its previous No. 22 high in June.
The album also yields five top 10s debuts with “Que Pasaría…,” with Bad Bunny, leading the pack at No. 2. The latter is also the album’s most-streamed song for the week, with 12 million official U.S. streams, enough for a No. 25 start on the overall Streaming Songs chart and a subsequent No. 2 debut on Latin Streaming Songs. The song likewise becomes the most sold track of the week, with 1,000 downloads sold and a No. 1 debut on Latin Digital Song Sales.
Here’s the full review of those cuts:
No. 2, “Que Pasaría…,” with Bad Bunny (debut)
No. 3, “Khe?” with Romeo Santos (debut)
No. 6, “Tú Con Él” (debut)
No. 7, “Se Fue,” with Laura Pausini (debut)
No. 8, “Revolu,” with Feid (debut)
No. 11, “Déjame Entrar” (re-entry)
No. 12, “Ni Me Conozco” (debut)
No. 14, “Baja Pa’ Acé,” with Alexis y Fido (debut)
No. 15, “Committed,” with Pharrell Williams (debut)
No. 16, “Espresso Martini,” with Marconi Impara & Yan Block (debut)
No. 18, “Amar de Nuevo” (debut)
No. 20, “Cosa Nuestra” (debut)
No. 24, “Mil Mujeres” (debut)
No. 26, “IL Capo”
No. 29, “2:12 AM,” with Latin Mafia
No. 30, “Pasaporte,” with Mr. Naisgai (re-entry)
No. 38, “Touching The Sky” (re-entry)
No. 40, “Sexxxmachine”
While “Que Pasaría…,” with Bad Bunny, is the album’s most-sold and streamed track, “Tú Con Él,” a faithful rendition of Frankie Ruiz’s ‘80s gem, stretched globally as Rauw Alejandro performed the song at the Global Citizen Festival.
While the late salsa icon died in 1998, he scored a Billboard chart entry earlier in 2024. Victor Manuelle’s “Otra Noche Más” includes Ruiz’s vocals from his 1989 song “Deseándote,” and gave him featured artist billing. The track reached No. 3 on Tropical Airplay and a No. 15 on the overall Latin Airplay chart.