21 Savage Has A No. 1 Album For The First Time Ever

21 Savage has finally arrived.


obviously, he's been around for (what seems like) a long time right now. His two Slaughter mixtapes dropped in 2015, plus each year later, he scored a little bit of a breakthrough on Drake's "Sneakin" and also by way of the a superstar collab with Migos, YG, and Mike Will Made-It. His biggest push however was "rockstar," the 2017 record-smashing, Grammy-nominated team-up with Post Malone that culminated in a massive singalong with Aerosmith at the 2018 VMAs.


But his true arrival — the one at the best of the chart — is here now: His second album, I Am > I Was, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, giving him his first top-charting album ever.


The album racked up 131,000 equivalent album units in its beginning week of release, Billboard reports, and features uncredited visitor appearances from Travis Scott, Post Malone, Childish Gambino, Offset, and others. 21's 2017 debut, Issa Album, hit No. 2, and his Without Warning collab album with Offset and Metro Boomin hit No. 4.


It's a big deal for 21, an artist whose carefully executed unknowability has helped propel him into mainstream ascendence. No word although if Drake was the only one to get him a gift to celebrate his latest milestone.