WITH HELP FROM 100 BUNDLES, NAV LANDS ANOTHER NO.1 ALBUM

Nav, a Canadian rapper who is a protege of the Weeknd, may not be quite a household name. He is a moderate player on streaming services, with even his biggest songs trounced by others from headline-grabbing stars like DaBaby, 6ix9ine and Doja Cat.

But for a second time in a little over a year, Nav has nabbed the No.1 spot on Billboard’s album chart through a shrewdly executed strategy of merchandise bundles and the quick release of a “deluxe” LP adding more product to the market.

Nav’s latest, Good Intentions, reached the top with the equivalent of 135,000 album sales in the United States, according to Nielsen Music. That included 85 million streams, from the original album as well as Brown Boy 2, a mixtape added to it a few days later — the third-highest streaming total for any album this week.

Nav’s total also included 73,000 copies delivered as a complete package, nearly all of those through deals that included copies of the album with merchandise sold on his website. According to Billboard, Nav offered 100 such bundle deals, along with 18 different physical albums releases — six CDs, six vinyl LPs and six cassettes.

Under rules adopted by Billboard in January, for albums bundled with an item of merchandise to count toward the chart, an artist must offer fans that item in versions both with and without music, and the difference between them must be at least $3.49 (110 baht). One of Nav’s T-shirts, for example, cost $35 with a download of his album, or $31.50 without.

Also this week, R&B singer Kehlani opened at No.2 with It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, which she has promoted with music videos she shot at her home during quarantine (“THANK U RED WINE,” she tweeted).

Drake’s newest mixtape, Dark Lane Demo Tapes, fell one spot to No.3 in its second week out. Lil Baby’s My Turn is No. 4 and rapper Lil Durk opened at No.5 with Just Cause Y’all Waited 2. Last week’s No.1, Kenny Chesney’s Here And Now, fell to No.38.