Pop Smoke broke the Billboard record for the longest-charting No.1 Rap album.
The year 2020 was a year of adversity but it was also the year of Pop Smoke. The rapper whose untimely death in February of last year preceded numerous posthumous accolades for him was immortalized with his debut album Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon. Along with multiple chart records and a Grammy nod for the album bonus song, “Dior,” Pop Smoke has now surpassed Eminem for the longest-charting No.1 Rap album.
Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon just clocked its 20th non-consecutive week on the chart following its release in July 2020. This breaks the previous record held by Eminem for his 2010 album Recovery which was the No. 1 on the Rap Albums chart for 19 weeks. Em held the record for a decade before the departed rapper set a new benchmark.
Having maintained its position long enough to set a new record, Pop Smoke’s posthumous effort outstayed DAMN by Kendrick Lamar which spent 11 weeks, The Heist by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis which spent 13 weeks, and even Take Care by Drake which spent 16 weeks.
Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in July and returned to the top of the chart in October. It has been a staple atop the Rap Albums and Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums charts since its release. If it remains in the coveted position for another nine weeks, even non-consecutively, it will break another record for most weeks at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart which is previously held by MC Hammer.
This means Pop Smoke has already surpassed Michael Jackson’s Bad album and Prince’s Purple Rain as well. Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon had the largest opening for a posthumous album since 2009’s This Is It by Michael Jackson. The album ranked at No. 2 on Billboard’s 20 Best Rap Albums of 2020.
