Anderson .Paak & Cordae Earn Their First No. 1 With ‘Heavy Is The Crown’
Seven years after “RNP” first linked them, Anderson .Paak and Cordae finally made the full album — and it just gave both of them a first. Heavy Is the Crown debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart (dated Nov. 7).
The album, released October 23, moved 30,000 equivalent album units in its first tracking week (Oct. 23–29), per Luminate via Billboard — and the split tells the story: 19,000 of those were album sales against 11,000 from streaming. In an era of rented No. 1s, fans actually bought this one. It also opens at No. 2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 11 on the Billboard 200.
Neither man had topped this chart before: Cordae’s previous best was No. 4 with From a Birds Eye View (2022); .Paak’s was No. 3 with NxWorries’ Yes Lawd! back in 2016. The set’s early standout, “Airbender,” debuts at No. 21 on Hot Rap Songs with 2.4 million U.S. streams — .Paak’s first-ever entry on that chart.
Production across the 11 tracks includes J. Cole, 9th Wonder, Swizz Beatz and Conductor Williams. A slow-cooked partnership, cashed in at the top.
Sources: Billboard chart reporting (Luminate data), via Music Times and HotNewHipHop.
