Lil Baby has cause to celebrate: not only does he have a successful new album out, his 2020 project My Turn was the most popular rap album of the century, going by its Billboard chart performance.
On Thursday (January 9), Billboard unveiled its Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century list. The list measures performance on the weekly Billboard 200 album charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024.
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By those metrics, My Turn measured eighth overall, behind two projects each from Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift; Adele’s 21, the Hamilton cast recording; and Post Malone‘s Hollywood’s Bleeding.
Post Malone has two other albums in the list’s top 25, beerbongs & bentleys (no. 12) and Stoney (no. 24). The only other rapper to appear in the top 25 is Kendrick Lamar, with Damn (no. 25). Drake‘s Views lands at 28, while Pop Smoke‘s posthumous Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon is at 31. Check the whole list, which appropriately contains 200 albums, at the link above.
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Lil Baby’s new WHAM (Who Hard As Me) looks like it will have quite a nice chart run of its own.
According to Chart Predictions, the effort is projected to land at No. 1 on the chart with an estimated 115k-125k album equivalent units.
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The 15-track effort arrived on January 3, and features appearances from Travis Scott, Future, Young Thug, GloRilla, Rod Wave, Rylo and 21 Savage.
If the prediction stands, WHAM will mark the rapper’s fourth consecutive No. 1 album.
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The rapper’s previous chart-toppers were My Turn, 2021’s The Voice of the Heroes alongside Lil Durk and 2022’s It’s Only Me.
Lil Baby recently announced that WHAM won’t be his only release of the year, as he’s planning to drop two new albums in 2025 that will showcase two different sides to his artistry.
The Atlanta rapper shared the news while appearing on Lil Yachty‘s A Safe Place podcast, saying: “At first, I was telling people I was going to drop a double album. Now, I’m dropping the WHAM album and Dominique album.”
He added that the second album, which is titled after his real name, will “hopefully” arrive in February, shortly after WHAM.
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Baby was then asked by his “Sum More” collaborator how the two projects will differ: “I still put some of the songs I was gonna use for Dominique on WHAM ’cause I know my fanbase really want to hear them certain songs. WHAM is more me on some young n-gga shit — fast cars, girls, jewelry, money. You know, the turnt lifestyle.
“And Dominique is more the serious me, more personal. That’s a part of the new journey I’m on. I hate the word vulnerable, but I’m gonna be more open to my fans and my audience.”
