J. Cole scores another No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with “The Fall-Off.”
On Sunday (February 15), Billboard reported that the North Carolina native’s double-disc effort topped the charts, selling 280,000 equivalent albums. 113,000 of these were pure album sales. J. Cole’s achievement marks the highest single-week sales for a hip-hop album since Playboi Carti’s “MUSIC” debuted at No. 1 last March with 298,000 units sold.
Five of Cole’s previous album releases have debuted at No. 1 in their first week: “Cole World: The Sideline Story,” “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” “4 Your Eyez Only,” “KOD” and “The Off-Season.” “Born Sinner” debuted in 2013 at No. 2 behind Ye’s Yeezus, but climbed to No. 1 in its third week.
After several years of teasing, the long-awaited The Fall-Off hits theaters on February 6th. “Two Six”, Future and Tems’ collaboration “Bunce Road Blues” and Future’s collaboration “Run A Train” are some of the highlights of this project.
The day after the album’s release, Cole embarked on his 26-year Trunk Sale Tour, selling CDs out of the trunk of his old Honda Civic, the same car he used to do the same thing when he came to Fayetteville, North Carolina. So far, the rapper has played in cities across North Carolina, Virginia, Atlanta, Silver Spring, Maryland, and New York City. This week he continues his journey.
Check out Cole’s sales for the first week of his career.
Cole World: Side Story (2011): 218,000 copies released in first week.
Born a Sinner (2013): 297,000 copies released in first week.
2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014): 371,000 units sold in first week.
4 “Your Eyez Only” (2016): 492,000 copies sold in first week.
KOD (2018): 397,000 copies sold in first week.
Low season (2021): 282,000 units sold in first week.
“The Fall Off” (2026): 280,000 copies released in first week.
