J. Cole Just Accomplished Something No Other Rapper Has
J.Cole surpasses a Billboard chart record previously set by DMX.
On Tuesday (May 25th), Billboard will release its official Top 200 album charts for the week of May 29th. Unsurprisingly, J.Cole took the top spot with his The Off-Season album. The achievement gives Cole an accomplishment no other rapper has done thus far: his first six albums debuted at the no. 1 spot on the Billboard 200.
The project notched over 282,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week of its release (ending May 20th). The total is the largest week for a rap album in 2021, and the second-largest week overall. The Off-Season came within 9,000 units of Taylor Swift’s Fearless album’s debut of 291,000 units. The album’s 325 million streams is the highest-streaming week of the year since Morgan Wallen scored 240 million streams for her double album Dangerous.
Album units combine a total of album sales, track-equivalent albums, and streaming-equivalent albums. Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold, 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand (audio and video) streams. All 12 songs from The Off-Season appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. “My Life” featuring 21 Savage and Morray debuts at the chart’s number-two spot.
Over the weekend, PUMA celebrated the album’s release with a new “Off-Season Red” color way of his Dreamer 2 sneaker. Cole wore the new model for his debut for the Basketball Africa League’s Rwanda Patriots. The shoe features Cole’s Dreamer logo on the heel. Skylar Diggins-Smith of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury has also worn the shoes on-court. Cole fans can get their hands on a pair of the Dreamer 2 for $130.