J. Cole just added another No. 1 to his lofty discography.
The Off-Season has earned J. Cole his sixth consecutive No. 1 studio album. The album debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart this week with 282,000 equivalent album units moved in the U.S., according to MRC Data. This marks the largest opening for any hip-hop album of 2021, Billboard says. Released by the rapper’s own label Dreamville along with Roc Nation and Interscope, The Off-Season makes J. Cole runner-up for the largest week for an album overall, only second to Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version).
With 243,000 TEA units earned which is equivalent to 325.05 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks, The Off-Season has nabbed the largest streaming week for any album this year as well. It is also the top-selling album of the week with 37,000 units moved in pure sales. J. Cole has collected his sith No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and bragging rights for all of his studio albums reaching that coveted peak.
Cole’s previous leaders include 2018’s KOD, 4 Your Eyez Only (2016), 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014), Born Sinner in 2013 which debuted at No. 2 then peaked at No. 1, and Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011). Along with his chart-topping streak, J. Cole perpetuates his reputation of going No. without any feature. The Off-Season follows suit with previous albums as its 12 tracks are all solos.
Leave it to J. Cole to go pro and simultaneously release a No. 1 hip-hop album. The Off-Season is also expected to go platinum as its predecessors did. In celebration of his sixth chart-topper, J. Cole announced that the music video for his album song “Applying Pressure” will be released tomorrow (May 25). He also dropped his new Puma collaboration sneaker called Dreamer 2 The Off-Season Red on Friday.
As he is currently playing for the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League, J. Cole made the belated announcement for the drop on Twitter. He later wrote, “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,” adding a pair of red hear emojis to show his fans some love.
Over on the Billboard 200 chart, Nicki Minaj also debuts at No. 2 with the re-release of her previous mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. The project that was initially made available for free in 2009, was made commercially available for the first time on May 14. While some of the original tracks didn’t make the cut, Nicki added three new joints including a collaboration with Drake and Lil Wayne called “Seeing Green,” a remix to Skillibeng’s “Crocodile Teeth” and a solo track titled “Fractions.” Beam Me Up Scotty took the silver this week with 80,000 equivalent album units moved and marks the rapper’s fifth top two album on the chart.
