There is a lot to rejoice about in the Dreamville camp. The record label’s leader, J. Cole, currently has the #1 album in America. The Off-Season debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart.
With 282,000 first-week units, The Off-Season pulled the largest sales total for any Hip Hop project in 2021. The studio LP was second overall only to Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) with 291,000 units in April.
In addition, J. Cole’s The Off-Season pulled in 325 million on-demand streams in its initial week of release. That total is now the new streaming benchmark for any album this year.
“Sending a thank you from Rwanda! #1 album, I appreciate the love, I heard the noise from out here. The Off-Season means keep pushing yourself, I will do the same. ❤️❤️,” tweeted J. Cole. The North Carolina native now has six #1 albums in his catalog.
Dreamville co-founder, Ibrahim Hamad, wrote on Twitter, “The Off-Season really like that!!! I ain’t gon lie I don’t think any Cole project got this type of reaction and love especially from the people [whose] opinion I really respect. Can’t wait to see this live if we can figure out this touring with all the COVID regulations.”
The Off-Season was executive produced by J. Cole, Ibrahim Hamad, and T-Minus. Guest features include 21 Savage, Morray, Bas, Lil Baby, and 6LACK. Several tracks from the project are predicted to open in the Top 10 of the next Hot 100 chart. “Interlude” already peaked at #8.
Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011), Born Sinner (2013), 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014), 4 Your Eyez Only (2016), and KOD (2018) are J. Cole’s other Number Ones on the Billboard 200. All five of those albums have been certified Platinum or higher by the RIAA. Born Sinner is 2x-Platinum. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is 3x-Platinum.
Elsewhere on the latest Billboard 200, Nicki Minaj scored her third #2 project. The re-packaged 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty with three new tracks launched in second place with 80,000 units. 2015’s The Pinkprint and 2018’s Queen also peaked at #2. 2011’s Pink Friday and 2012’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded made it to the top of the tally.
Moneybagg Yo’s previous two-week champion A Gangsta’s Pain slipped from #1 to #3. DJ Khaled’s former chart-topper Khaled Khaled dropped from #4 to #8. Pop Smoke’s award-winning Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon continues to hold a Top 10 position after 46 weeks on the chart.