Kendrick Lamar‘s GNX has cruised to the top of the Billboard 200 with the highest first-week sales of any new rap album this year.
According to Billboard, the surprise project debuted atop the chart with 319,000 equivalent album units, becoming Kendrick’s sixth consecutive number one album.
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Of that figure, streaming accounted for 285,000 units (amounting to 379.72 million on-demand spins), while 32,000 was comprised of digital album sales. The remaining 2,000 units came from TEA (track equivalent albums).
GNX has the largest sales tally of any new Hip Hop album in 2024, eclipsing Tyler, The Creator‘s Chromakopia (299,500), Eminem‘s The Death of Slim Shady (281,000) and Future and Metro Boomin‘s We Don’t Trust You (251,000).
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The only rapper to sell more units in a single week this year is Travis Scott, whose reissued mixtape Days Before Rodeo opened with 361,000. The 2014 project was released on streaming services for the first time in August.
In terms of Kendrick’s catalog, GNX marks his third biggest album based on first-week sales, behind only DAMN. (603,000) and To Pimp a Butterfly (324,000).
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The Compton native’s previous effort, 2022’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, debuted with 295,000 units, while his 2012 debut good kid, m.A.A.d city sold 242,000 copies in its opening week.
GNX was initially expected to achieve 291,000 first-week units, before that projection was increased to between 310,000 and 325,000.
The album’s chart-topping debut caps off a banner year for Kendrick, who has seen his stock rise and legacy become solidified by defeating Drake in their high-profile beef that boiled over this past summer.
The crown jewel (and knockout blow) of his onslaught of diss songs was “Not Like Us,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and broke several streaming records on its way to becoming the best-selling song in the U.S. this year.
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The Mustard-produced anthem has even sparked a legal battle between Drake and Universal Music Group, who the 6 God has accused of using streaming bots and payola to boost the popularity of “Not Like Us.”
Kendrick is tipped for more success on this week’s Hot 100, with GNX tracks “Squabble Up” and “TV Off” in the running to top the singles chart.
