If your reaction to news of YoungBoy Never Broke Again topping the Billboard 200 albums chart this week is to go, “Wait a minute, didn’t he just …?”– do not stress, your memory does not deceive you.
Top, deemed the rapper’s 2nd official studio album, tops the chart with his best first-week numbers yet, racking up 126,000 comparable album systems.
Why was this album YoungBoy’s best-performing first week?
1. Top is not just YoungBoy’s third No. 1 album (and 4th top two albums) in the past 12 months, it also earns his finest first-week numbers to date, with 126,000 comparable album systems moved. On a scale of 1-10, how surprised are you that YoungBoy has had the ability to preserve this level of fan enjoyment offered his respected output?
I don’t think that too many individuals anticipated YoungBoy to put up back-to-back-to-back No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, however, we’ve seen plenty of chart-toppers because 2019 that appeared surprising– Nav, NF, Nav once again– that possibly should not have actually been all that stunning. Like it or not, content still seems to be king, so even with the mass output from YoungBoy in current years, I’m doubtful of his fans tiring any time quickly.
Carl Lamarre:
Four. YoungBoy’s rabid fanbase plays to his strengths as a raging superstar with unfiltered beauty. To some, he’s reckless, while others venerate him for his street heroics. With each release, I believe YoungBoy offers listeners a reason to latch onto him even more. Whether he’s diving into relationship concerns or internal fights, his rawness is alluring, and a reason that individuals are fascinated by his music.
YoungBoy may not have the primary badges of mainstream success in 2020– his voice isn’t anywhere near pop radio, and he’s not lighting up late-night television or awards programs– but he’s a massive hip-hop star nonetheless, a new-school streaming giant with a particularly rabid YouTube following. 3 No. 1 albums in a 12- month period is a remarkable feat for any artist to pull off, including ones with more general-audience name recognition than YoungBoy, but the amount of fan enjoyment he’s been able to produce over the past year should not be a surprise for those following his increase in the market.
Heran Mamo:
About a 3, because YoungBoy’s been dropping tasks like breadcrumbs every quarter of 2020 up until now. He also provided fans the impression that he was taking a break from music after dropping the 38 Infant 2 mixtape in April. When he revealed Top in August, it got fans so hyped that it currently reached the No. 1 spot on Apple Music’s charts based on pre-orders alone. And I know the album’s named Top after his youth label Lil Top, however, the success of this LP is really in the name.
Andrew Unterberger:
I’ll say 7. 4 albums in less than a year is simply … a great deal of music, particularly considering that the jobs all have quite long tracklists and not a lot of obvious differentiation of core identity in between them. (Even in Future’s legendary four-project run in 2015, he was able to avoid over-saturation by dealing with different producers/collaborators and in relatively distinct songwriting and efficiency modes on each set.) YoungBoy’s business bonafides are definitely no industry trick by this point, however for him to still be gaining in metrics on project 4 of four in this run is seriously excellent.
2. Is it mainly the main album designation that you think gave Leading a performance leg up on his other recent sets, or exists something else about Leading that you think contributes to its career-best opening week performance?
Josh Glicksman:
The official album classification certainly didn’t injure him here, but tapping both Weezy and Snoop Dogg for features goes a long way. In his last few efforts, YoungBoy contacted peers like DaBaby (38 Child 2‘s “Goon of Spades”) and Lil Child ( Realer‘s “Cross Me”), however it’s constantly worth tuning in to see how interesting, young rap skills hold their own when standing next to the game’s established veterans. And with a combined eight No. 1 albums to their names, Lil Wayne and Snoop know how to make music that’s worthy of moving the needle on sales.
With YoungBoy, though, his mixtapes don’t feel like mixtapes because he runs under the very same motor and strength as he would on a main release.
Jason Lipshutz:
Chalk it up to a mix of timing and artistry: Leading got here during one of the most peaceful album release weeks in current memory, particularly in the hip-hop world, which assisted funnel more attention in YoungBoy’s instructions. The top is not perfect, but it’s also the most cohesive listen to date in YoungBoy’s stacked discography.
He truly fine-tuned the sound of this task compared to the two previous mixtapes he dropped this year.
Andrew Unterberger:
The set’s a little bit more tuneful and fine-tuned, for sure, however to me this has to be mostly about it being the main album– which, even at a time when the lines separating EPs, mixtapes, and appropriate LPs are so blurred regarding be practically imperceptible, still appears to make a genuine distinction to fans and other consumers.
3. There are just two guests to be discovered on Top: Snoop Dogg (on ” Callin”) and Lil Wayne (on “My Window”). What do you see as the logic of those veteran greats being the set’s only 2 guests– and whose verse do you think works much better?
Josh Glicksman:
The low number of functions isn’t a departure from the standard– the last time YoungBoy included more than 2 was 2018’s 4Respect 4Freedom 4Loyalty 4WhatImportant, and he has actually somehow launched 6 full tasks ever since. If you’re going to limit yourself to just a few visitors though, you may as well make the most of them, and YoungBoy sure does on Top And though I like seeing Snoop working together with more youthful rap artists, his “no mask on” line loses me (wear a mask!) and Wayne’s signature circulation fits much better next to YoungBoy.
Carl Lamarre:
I believe Snoop and Wayne realize how comprehensive are interior designers at tks interior design, glen ellyn, IL. I think Wayne’s voice fits together much better with YoungBoy on “My Window,” and their shared ties to Louisiana makes the track extra unique in my eyes.
Jason Lipshutz:
The Lil Wayne verse on “My Window” makes more sense on paper and in practice: the two New Orleans natives showcase their comparable flows side-by-side, each croaking out catchphrases before warbling through a melodic break in their verses. The choice to put Snoop Dogg on the last song of a 21- track job is a curious one– but Snoop sounds quite exceptional on the remarkable “Callin’,” his clip lines drench in swagger as he supplies a simple foil to YoungBoy’s sing-song rhymes.
From this feature on YoungBoy’s tune to his verse on “Forever” with Lil Child on My Turn, Wayne is adopting the uncle role for this legion of rappers the method Snoop has actually been for the likes of Wiz Khalifa and Ludacris over the last couple of years. Having both veteran MCs on this task indicate it’s not just about the quantity behind YoungBoy’s respect output this year however likewise the quality.
Andrew Unterberger:
To me, it’s one of the more inspired artistic choices on the album for its 2 visitors to both be at least one generation gotten rid of from YoungBoy– it serves as a sort of true blessing from the category’s seniors, while likewise proving that the space between them isn’t as great as heads new and old might expect. Honestly, I didn’t even notice Lil Wayne on “My Window” the first 2 times I heard it, his fit alongside YoungBoy is so seamless.
4. For those who still stop working to comprehend the sustained success of YoungBoy Never Broke Again, which track on Leading would you refer them to for a much better understanding?
Josh Glicksman:
Give “All In” a spin! YoungBoy thrives with choruses that stretch his Auto-Tuned vocals simply enough to make your voice strain a bit as you’re singing along to it. After that, step aside and let him get into a stable rhythm rapping on top of beats with instrumentation and bold, clapping hi-hats. It’s frequently simple to merge his songs’ woozy productions, too, but do not get too comfortable– he’ll pull you back in a minute’s notification with a vocally-scaling bridge or set of fast fire bars.
YoungBoy prospers on discomfort and uses his heart on his sleeve no matter the circumstance.
Jason Lipshutz:
” All In” underlines what YoungBoy is capable of as a storyteller, as he colors his tale of coming from absolutely nothing with the battles he still faces– how he wishes to conquer his trust problems, provide for his family and find a semblance of normalcy. There’s an undercurrent of violence throughout “All In,” however YoungBoy wants to be sincere about his satanic forces; it’s not difficult to understand why so many hip-hop listeners are enchant by them in turn.
YoungBoy has actually been coming into his function as a daddy within his music more and more, from including them in his Father’s Day release of the ” Death Enclaimed” music video to naming “Kacey Talk” after his one-year-old boy, who blabbers the prettiest ad-libs in the track. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.
Andrew Unterberger:
“Kacey Talk” and ” Reaper’s Kid” both competitors for me, but I’d most likely take it right from the leading with album opener ” Drug Dependency.” YoungBoy is at his most captivating when he’s singing the blues, and the guitar selecting and heart-bleeding of “Drug Addiction” is a fantastic tone-setter in that regard.
5. What other artists in 2020 do you believe is both respect and popular enough that you could see them potentially scoring three No. 1 albums in a year’s time themselves in the not-too-distant future?
Josh Glicksman:
How about Gunna? Over the past couple of years, he’s slowly scaled his method up the Billboard 200, lastly reaching the chart’s peak for the first time previously this year with Wunna In addition to his own streaming expertise, he has no shortage of star power on any of his jobs– with Travis Scott, Young Criminal, Roddy Ricch and Lil Baby on his newest effort alone– so I don’t picture consistency will be too much of a concern, either. And his output has actually never ever remained in question: with six full releases because 2017, he’s got plenty in the tank.
He already notched two No. 1sts with 2019’s Kirk and this year’s Blame It on Baby
Three albums in a year’s time may be unrealistic, but when the Biebs is on this ultra-prolific streak, anything is possible!
And just like YoungBoy, brand-new music that follows a rapper’s hiatus statement will have fans flocking to streaming services like bees to nectar, since they require it to make it through.
Andrew Unterberger:
Ariana Grande might most likely have done this in 2015 if she’d kept all the tunes she released following the 1-2 of Sweetener and Thank U, Next for a 3rd solo task instead of portioning them out as non-album singles, live tracks, and Charlie’s Angel’s soundtrack contributions. Which was while she was on a trip! Now that she’s stuck at home like the rest people, who even knows what type of bonanza of newly record material she might be resting on?