There are plenty of reasons why first week album sales have always been an oddball indicator of success, but a number two debut on Billboard isn’t anything to sneeze at.
While 21 Savage had to give up the top spot to Jay-Z, who also entered last week due to the above mentioned oddity, his Issa debut has a decent runner up position, and had a very solid start, with 77,000 equivalent units.
Meanwhile 4:44 moved 222,000 units in its first week, but since that number likely includes two weeks worth of sales, and comes from a much more well-known, better established artist, Savage has little to be ashamed of here.
Rap had a great week in general, with the next two spots in the top four being taken by Kendrick Lamar and DJ Khaled, who came in third and fourth respectively with DAMN. and I’m Blessed.
Issa, which you can stream here, has at least one up on 4:44 though: Last week NBA draftee Lonzo Ball declared via Twitter that he liked Issa more than 4:44, which caused a minor meltdown amongst hip-hop heads who thought he was either trolling or outright wrong. Not bad for a rapper who named his album after a popular Twitter meme.
