Michael Kiwanuka leads Kendrick Lamar in race for Number 1 album

Michael Kiwanuka leads Kendrick Lamar in the race for the UK’s Number 1 album at the midweek mark.  

Acclaimed Mercury Prize-winning singer-songwriter Kiwanuka lands at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart Update with his fourth album Small Changes, with a current lead of 4,600 chart units.  

It would be the second chart-topping LP from Kiwanuka, following 2016’s Love and Hate. He’s also landed in the Top 5 previously with 2012 debut Home Again (4) and 2020’s Kiwanuka (2), which was awarded the 2020 Mercury Prize.  

Coming in at Number 2 - and surely set to become strong competition to Kiwanuka over the coming days - is Kendrick Lamar’s surprise-released sixth studio album GNX, which features collaborations with the likes of SZA and producer Jack Antonoff (Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter).  

One of the most acclaimed MCs of his generation, Lamar earned his sole UK Number 1 album in 2015 with his generation-defining opus To Pimp A Butterfly, and has also reached the Top 20 with 2012’s good kid m.A.A.d city (16), 2016’s Untitled Unmastered (7), 2017’s Damn. (2) and 2022’s Mr Morale & The Big Steppers (2).  

Father John Misty is set to earn his third Top 10 album with Mahashmashana (4), while Pet Shop Boys’s Nonetheless could re-enter the Top 10 following the release of its Expanded edition (6), having peaked at Number 2 earlier this year. 

Afrobeats superstar Wizkid will be looking to secure his first-ever Top 10 album, and third Top 40, with Morayo (7), having previously topped the Official Singles Chart in 2016 as a featured act on Drake’s blockbuster One Dance with Kyla.  

Former chart-toppers Michael Ball & Alfie Boe are expected to rise back into the Top 10 on Together At Home (9), while U2 could be celebrating the 20th anniversary of chart-topping album How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with a Top 20 re-entry (12).  

US musician Kim Deal could see her solo debut record Nobody Loves You More enter the UK charts at Number 14. As a member of Pixies, Deal scored three Top 10 LPs until her departure from the band in 2013. 

Marilyn Manson’s One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1 is heading for a debut at Number 15, while Michael Bublé’s Christmas continues its festive season rise, up 14 places midweek and expected to re-enter the Top 20 at Number 17. 

Swedish prog-metal outfit Opeth’s The Last Will and Testament is on track to become the band’s 6th Top 40 UK record (19), while Benson Boone’s Fireworks & Rollerblades could rebound 16 places following the culmination of his UK tour last week (21). 

English singer and guitarist Joan Armatrading’s How Did This Happen & What Does It Now Mean could mark her 17th Top 40 LP (29).  

Finally, UK pop band Thompson Twins celebrate the 40th anniversary of their fourth album Into The Gap with an anniversary re-issue (37). Upon original release, the record was the band’s first UK Number 1 album, topping the Official Albums Chart for three weeks and contained a trio of Top 10 singles to boot; Hold Me Now (4), Doctor! Doctor! (3) and You Take Me Up (2).