As Wale’s The Album About Nothing debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, rap rules the top four of the tally for the first time since 1998, and only the second time ever.
Wale’s Seinfeld-inspired third full-length arrives with 100,000 equivalent-album units earned in the week ending April 5, according to Nielsen Music. It’s joined in the top four by the Furious 7 soundtrack (zooming 17-2 with 74,000 units; up 202 percent), Ludacris’ Ludaversal (debuting at No. 3 with 73,000) and Kendrick Lamar’s former No. 1 To Pimp a Butterfly (1-4 with 65,000; down 47 percent).
An all-rap top four first happened on Oct. 17, 1998. That week, the top three welcomed new arrivals from Jay Z (Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life), Outkast (Aquemini) and A Tribe Called Quest (The Love Movement), respectively. Those titles bumped the previous week’s No. 1, Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, down to No. 4.
Meanwhile, with Wale’s set released through EBM Music/Maybach/Atlantic and the Furious 7 album on Universal Studios/Atlantic, the top two are owned by Atlantic Records for the first time since the July 19, 2014 chart. That week, Trey Songz’ Trigga (on Songbook/Atlantic) debuted at No. 1, while Ed Sheeran’s X (Atlantic) fell 1-2 in its second week.
Furious 7‘s 15-position rise is the largest jump into the top two on the chart since the Les Miserables soundtrack zoomed 31 rungs (from No. 33 to No. 2) on the Jan. 12, 2013 chart. The latter debuted at No. 33 from only three full days of sales, as it was released on an off-cycle Friday (Dec. 21, 2012), four days before its parent film opened in theaters. The next week, once the album had a full seven days of sales (in the week ending Dec. 30, concurrent with the movie’s debut), the set flew to No. 2. Furious 7 is in its third week on the chart, but like Les Miserables, its swift chart climb is owed to the film’s theatrical bow on April 3. There’s a chance Furious 7 could climb to No. 1 on the April 25 chart, as its only competition appears to be All Time Low’s new Future Hearts. Industry forecasters suggest that the latter, an April 7 release, might start with more than 60,000 units.