If there’s anything Hip Hop fans love debating more than rankings or rap beef (or, as recent times have shown, lawsuits), it’s album sales.
Times have certainly changed since the days when the likes of Eminem, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne were shifting over a million copies in a single week in their aughties primes, back when people actually bought CDs.
Album sales are counted much differently these days in the streaming era, and as Audiomack co-founder Brian Zisook recently pointed out, sales are no longer the be all and end all of an artist’s career given the on-demand nature of streaming and increased focus on more profitable revenue streams (i.e. touring, merch).
Yet first-week units remain an important measuring stick for an artist’s commercial standing, cultural cachet and ability to rally their fanbase, even as some artists themselves have attempted to downplay their value (which is totally valid if you prefer to drown out the noise and judge music based solely on quality).
Compared to previous years, 2024 has been a relatively tame year in Hip Hop when it comes to first-week sales, despite the fact that the genre remains the most popular in the U.S. and streaming revenues have continued to grow. No project this year has cracked the 400,000 mark, which hasn’t happened since 2014.
In fact, the rap album with the biggest single-week sales tally this year was originally released a decade ago: Travis Scott’s reissued mixtape Days Before Rodeo. Not even Kendrick Lamar’s high-profile feud with Drake could fuel GNX to pole position, while perennial sales behemoth Eminem posted relatively modest numbers with his alter ego-burying The Death of Slim Shady.
Long-awaited albums from Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre (Missionary, 36K), Big Sean (Better Me Than You, 23K), Childish Gambino (Bando Stone & The New World, 35K) also mustered some of the lowest figures in their respective catalogs.
Still, 2024 was not without major wins for some. Tyler, The Creator scored the biggest sales tally of his career with Chromakopia, as did 21 Savage with American Dream and Metro Boomin with We Don’t Trust You.
Future flooded the Billboard charts with a trifecta of number one albums during his monster run, while the polarizing Yeat proved his cheerleaders outweight his critics as he earned his first chart-topping project along with two of the biggest first-week sales of any rapper.
Here are the 20 biggest rap albums of 2024 based on first-week sales.
20. Lil Uzi Vert — Eternal Atake 2
First-week sales: 59,000
Peak chart position: #3
RIAA Certification: N/A
19. Megan Thee Stallion — Megan
First-week sales: 64,000
Peak chart position: #3
RIAA Certification: N/A
18. GloRilla — Glorious
First-week sales: 69,000
Peak chart position: #5
RIAA Certification: N/A
17. Yeat — 2093
First-week sales: 70,000
Peak chart position: #2
RIAA Certification: N/A
16. Don Toliver — Hardstone Psycho
First-week sales: 76,500
Peak chart position: #3
RIAA Certification: N/A
15. Juice WRLD — The Party Never Ends
First-week sales: 86,000
Peak chart position: #4
RIAA Certification: N/A
14. Yeat — Lyfestyle
First-week sales: 89,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
13. Gunna — One of Wun
First-week sales: 91,000
Peak chart position: #2
RIAA Certification: N/A
12. Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign — Vultures 2
First-week sales: 107,000
Peak chart position: #2
RIAA Certification: N/A
11. J. Cole — Might Delete Later
First-week sales: 115,000
Peak chart position: #2
RIAA Certification: N/A
10. Rod Wave — Last Lap
First-week sales: 127,000
Peak chart position: #2
RIAA Certification: N/A
9. Future & Metro Boomin — We Still Don’t Trust You
First-week sales: 127,500
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
8. Future — Mixtape Pluto
First-week sales: 129,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
7. 21 Savage — American Dream
First-week sales: 133,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: Gold (500,000 sales)
6. Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign — Vultures 1
First-week sales: 148,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: Gold (500,000 sales)
5. Future & Metro Boomin — We Don’t Trust You
First-week sales: 251,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: Platinum (1 million sales)
4. Eminem — The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)
First-week sales: 281,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
3. Tyler, The Creator — Chromakopia
First-week sales: 299,500
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
2. Kendrick Lamar — GNX
First-week sales: 319,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
1. Travis Scott — Days Before Rodeo
First-week sales: 361,000
Peak chart position: #1
RIAA Certification: N/A
Gross seeing travis scott top who he topped right there.
Fu cant even rap.
Put him in a cypher with black thought, kxng crooked, and daylyt, and travis scott. The fuck you think will happen?
Lol. Kardashian marketing or what
Get a life, loser lol
only druggies and mentally impaired zombies listen to that Kardashian called Travis Scott
only druggies and mentally impaired zombies listen to that Kardashian called Travis Scott
All these albums first week sales are weak. The game is messed up for real.
Why is an album from 2014 at the number 1 spot for sales of albums released in 2024
Did you even skim through the article?
so i guess with rihanna might retire glorilla who looks like rihanna is going to blow up moreso