Kendrick Lamar's surprise album soars to No. 1 in Australia

CANBERRA, Australia, March 23 (UPI) -- Kendrick Lamar's surprise album To Pimp a Buttlerfly has soared to the top of Australian album charts a week after its release on March 16.

The album, the rapper's third, opened at No. 1 on the latest ARIA Albums Chart., according to Billboard.

Lamar released TPAB one week ahead of its scheduled release date by linking to the album's iTunes page in a tweet. The album set a Spotify record of first-day streaming.

TPAB is expected to produce Kendrick's first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Lamar released the record's lead single, "i," in September. The track's official video followed in November.

The rapper previously released Good Kid, M.A.A.D City in 2012 and Section.80 in 2011.