Billboard 200

J. Cole’s ‘The Off-Season’ Debuts At No. 1 While Tallying The Highest Streaming Week Of 2021

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For three years, fans of J. Cole patiently waited for a new solo album. In those years, the rapper delivered an impressive guest feature run, even spearheading Dreamville’s compilation album Revenge Of The Dreamers III. At long last, the wait ended earlier this month, when the North Carolina rapper shared his sixth album, The Off-Season, which saw Bas, Morray, Lil Baby, and 21 Savage contribute to Cole’s latest hip-hop chapter. Now, the album is Cole’s sixth chart-topper, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

The Off-Season achieved the feat thanks to a total of 282,000 album units, the most for a hip-hop release this year. This number is comprised of 243,000 streaming equivalent album units and 37,000 album sales. The former is a result of 325.05 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks, making for the most from any full-length effort that was released this year. The previous record holder was Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which posted 240.18 million streams in its first week.

With the debut of The Off-Season at No. 1, all six of J. Cole’s official albums have now held the top spot on the Billboard 200. The rapper’s 2013 release, Born Sinner was the only release that failed to debut at No. 1. The rapper’s only full-length project that failed to reach No. 1 at any point was 2016’s Forest Hills Drive: Live, which peaked at No. 71.

The Off-Season is out now via Dreamville/Roc Nation. Get it here.

DJ Khaled Earns His Third No. 1 Album With ‘Khaled Khaled’

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Despite having 12 albums to his name, DJ Khaled hasn’t spent too much time atop the album charts. His first No. 1 was 2016’s Major Key, which came a decade after his debut Listen… The Album. Khaled earned his second chart-topper a year later with Grateful. He came up short in 2019 with Father Of Ashad, whose release was infamously bungled. This time around, Khaled has nothing to worry about, as Khaled Khaled debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.

The album debuted with a total of 93,000 units in its first week, a number comprised of 76,000 streaming equivalent album units and 14,000 pure album sales. Despite it topping the charts, the first-week total is the lowest amount for Khaled since his 2015 album, I Changed A Lot, which debuted with only 25,000 equivalent album units.

Looking further down the chart, the next four positions are occupied by former No. 1 albums. Moneybagg Yo’s first chart-topping album, A Gangsta’s Pain, clocks in at No. 2, while Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album holds still at No. 3. Justin Bieber’s Justice takes a step upward from No. 4 while Young Thug and YSL’s Slime Language 2 slipped down to No. 5

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Moneybagg Yo Earns His First No. 1 Album With ‘A Gangsta’s Pain’

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The year started with Morgan Wallen dominating the album charts, and it took weeks for other acts to take the top spot. Albums from Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift soon took over. Now it’s time for Moneybagg Yo to join august company: The rapper’s fourth album, A Gangsta’s Pain, went No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, making it the first chart-topper of his career.

The album, which boasts a total of 22 songs, tallied a total of 110,000 album units for its first week on the albums chart dated May 8 — a number comprised of 106,000 streaming equivalent album units and 4,000 pure album sales. A Gangsta’s Pain makes for Moneybagg’s fifth album overall and his fourth to enter the top-10 of the Billboard 200. The Memphis native can credit tracks like “Time Today” and “Hard For The Next,” featuring Future, for helping boost the album’s chart position.

Further down the latest Billboard 200, last week’s chart-topping release, Young Thug and YSL Records’ Slime Language 2, clocks in at No. 2. A trio of additional former No. 1s from this year also held on to Top 10 positions, namely Bieber’s Justice, Rod Wave’s Soulfly, and Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version), which can be found at No. 5, 6, and 9 respectively.

Check out our review of Moneybagg’s A Gangsta’s Pain here.

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

A DMX Album Nearly Topped The ‘Billboard’ 200 Chart Following His Death

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Over the course of his legendary career, DMX had about as much success on the charts as anybody: His first five albums all managed to peak at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Now, after his passing, the late rapper is continuing to have an impact on the charts, as on the new chart dated April 24, he had an album come so close to placing on top.

Taylor Swift is No. 1 on the current Billboard 200 with Fearless (Taylor’s Version), but the 2010 compilation The Best Of DMX managed to finish the week at No. 2 and become the rapper’s seventh top-ten album. This is up from No. 73 last week, which was the album’s chart peak at the time. Additionally, two of DMX’s studio albums — 1998’s It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot and 1999’s Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood — re-entered the chart, at No. 46 and 107, respectively.

The Best Of DMX features some of the rapper’s biggest hits, including all of his RIAA-certified singles: “Get At Me Dog,” “Slippin’,” and “X Gon’ Give It To Ya.” It’s not surprising that the rapper’s music has shot up the charts, as his streams increased by nearly 1,000 percent after his death. He is also set to be memorialized at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Taylor Swift’s Re-Recorded Album ‘Fearless’ Makes Her The First Woman With Three No. 1s In Under A Year

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It’s been a busy year for Taylor Swift. Last summer, the singer released her eighth album, Folklore, which became one of the best-selling releases of 2020 and eventually took home a 2021 Grammy for Album Of The Year. Her run continued with the December release of Evermore, which also topped the charts. And earlier this month, Swift dropped her third album in less than 12 months with the re-recorded version of Fearless, her 2008 sophomore album, which, like, the other two, has topped the Billboard charts.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 291,000 units sold in the chart dated April 24. This number is comprised of 179,000 pure album sales and 109,00 streaming equivalent album units. It makes her the first woman with three No. 1 albums in less than a year. Prior to this, the fastest a female recording artist was able to net three chart-topping projects was 14 months, when Donna Summer did it with Live And More (November 11, 1978), Bad Girls (June 16, 1979), and On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II (January 5, 1980).

Elsewhere, the new No. 1 ties Swift with Madonna for the second-most No. 1 albums over her career: nine, leaving her just two behind Barbra Streisand, who holds the most among women with 11. Swift also earned the biggest week of 2021 in terms of units sold, as well as the biggest week for a country album since Luke Bryan’s 2015 album Kill The Lights.

Further down the chart, DMX’s The Best Of DMX jumped from No. 73 to No. 2, following the rapper’s tragic death. Ariana Grande’s Positions also re-entered the top-10, thanks to the release of its vinyl LP and cassette, which helped boost the album from No. 17 to No. 6.

Rod Wave Lands The First No. 1 Album Of His Career With ‘Soulfly’

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Rod Wave’s rise to stardom began less than two years ago thanks to his single “Heart On Ice,” a track that was boosted by a remix from Lil Durk. That song would later be housed on his debut album, Ghetto Gospel, and soon enough the Florida rapper’s upward climb was underway. That project landed a Gold certification while his 2020 sophomore album, Pray 4 Love, went Platinum. But there was one feat that Rod Wave had not accomplished yet: He hadn’t nabbed a No. 1 album. All of that changed with the rapper’s third full-length effort, Soulfly.

The Florida rapper landed his first No. 1 album thanks to 130,000 units sold for the chart dated April 10. Of that number, 126,000 comprised streaming equivalent album units, which tallies to 189.2 million on-demand streams, the largest streaming week for a hip-hop or R&B album in 2021. Soulfly is also the second hip-hop/R&B album to reach No. 1 in the past five months. The last release to do so was Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated January 9. Lastly, Soulfly earned the best-selling single week for a hip-hop/R&B album since 21 Savage and Metro Boomin’s Savage Mode II put up 171,000 units back in October.

Elsewhere on this week’s chart, Justin Bieber’s Justice fell to No. 2, Morgan Wallen’s record-breaking sophomore effort, Dangerous: The Double Album, dropped to No. 5, and Young Dolph and Key Glock’s Dum And Dummer 2 debuted at No. 8