Jhené Aiko earns her first Billboard 200 No. 1 with ‘Westside Whimsy’

Aiko’s sixth top 10 project becomes the first R&B album by a woman to top the Billboard 200 in 2026.

Jhené Aiko has earned the first No. 1 album of her career as “Westside Whimsy” debuts atop the Billboard 200.

Complex reported that “Westside Whimsy” earned 74,000 equivalent album units in the United States during the week ending Sept. 17. Of that total, 70,000 units came from streaming activity, representing 71.33 million official on-demand streams of the album’s songs.

Another 3,500 units came from album sales, while 500 were track-equivalent album units.

The No. 1 debut marks Aiko’s first time reaching the top of the Billboard 200 nearly 13 years after “Sail Out” debuted and peaked at No. 8 in November 2013.

Her previous studio album, “Chilombo,” came closest to the top spot when it debuted at No. 2 in 2020. The project later earned an Album of the Year nomination at the Grammys.

“Westside Whimsy” is Aiko’s sixth project to reach the Billboard 200 top 10. It also debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Streaming Albums chart.

The 20-track album arrived Sept. 11 after being formally announced days earlier. Kendrick Lamar appears on “So Good,” Ab-Soul joins Aiko on “Love Bomb,” Tyga is featured on “Like, Whatever,” Larry June appears on “Neighbors” and OHMA closes the album on “Golden Coast.”

The chart achievement also makes Aiko the first R&B album by a woman to lead the Billboard 200 in 2026 and the first since SZA’s “SOS” returned to No. 1 in May 2025.

Billboard noted that Aiko waited 12 years and 10 months between her Billboard 200 debut and her first No. 1 album. Among female soloists, the last longer wait was Solange, who went 13 years and eight months before “A Seat at the Table” topped the chart in 2016.