Initial numbers are in and it looks like the predictions were correct. J. Cole’s debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, is expected to crash land at the top spot of the Billboard 200 chart with sales of over 217,000 copies in its first week.
According to Hits Daily Double, Cole World moved exactly 217,324 units, beating out rock band Blink-182’s comeback album, Neighborhoods, which landed at No. 2 with sales of 155,041 copies.
Though the sales figures have yet to be verified by SoundScan, the music industry standard, if the figures are true, Cole World will be highest charting debut album for a solo hip-hop artist this year.
Ecstatic about the good news, Cole took to Twitter to thank his fans and supporters for his album’s success.
“So many people to stunt on, fighting the urge to be spiteful. This moment is too important for that. Just want to say THANK YOU,” tweeted Cole, adding, “Thanks to yall, we shook the game up. No chart topping single, just 2 years of hard work, great music and real ass fans. #1 album,” continuing, “Thanks to every fan that held me down, every friend, every blog, magazine, tv, radio station, dj’s and pd’s, I feel like we ALL won.”
Though Cole is riding high on the success of Cole World, the North Carolina rapper and producer isn’t resting on his laurels. According to Billboard, Cole is planning to release a sophomore album in just nine months.
“I’m trying to do nine months, be back in nine months with the next album,” Cole said, adding that he’s “already tracking the second album. I’ve got the foundation of songs that I’m gonna put on it already, so it’s just a matter of taking these songs to the next level.”
Clearly, you can’t knock Cole’s hustle and if he keeps working this hard, perhaps he’ll have another No. 1 album under his belt in nine months. – nicholas robinson
