André 3000’s All-Flute Album Beat Out Lil Wayne, Nas, Doja Cat, And Other Rappers With First-Week Sales
André 3000 didn’t even have to rap on his new album to outperform most of his peers.
The Outkast member released his woodwind-filled album “New Blue Sun” on Nov. 17 and successfully beat out rappers like Lil Wayne, Nas, Logic, and more with his first-week sales. According to Hits Daily Double, 3000’s first album release in 17 years debuted at number 30 on the list of the top 50 albums with 24,244 units sold.
While he didn’t beat out Drake, Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift who sit in the top three spots, he did surpass names like Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Chris Brown, and NBA Young Boy. André 3000 was clear about not rapping on his latest release, let alone opting for no words at all.
But when comparing his fully instrumental album to other rappers, the “Hey Ya” hitmaker did outperform highly-celebrated rappers like Nas, Lil Wayne, Logic, Ice Spice, Kodak Black, and more according to Hip Hop By The Numbers.
Rappers Andre 3000 outsold w/ his flute album (24k)
— Hip Hop By The Numbers (@HipHopNumbers) November 25, 2023
Nas (17k)
Logic (18k)
Lil Tjay (22k)
EST Gee (17k)
Ice Spice (15k)
Lil Wayne (19k)
Kodak Black (23k)
Macklemore (22k)
Rae Sremmurd (18k)
Westside Gunn (20k)
French Montana (21k)
Real Boston Richey (15k)
Yo Gotti x DJ Drama… pic.twitter.com/q3fIk1RLcf
“New Blue Sun” also secured a placement on Billboard’s Hot 100 with the album’s opening track, “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time,” debuting at No. 90 on the chart.
Billboard Hot 100: #90(new) I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a 'Rap' Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time, André 3000.
— chart data (@chartdata) November 27, 2023
Fans celebrated the success of André 3000’s genre-bending music release that he put out “independently” and with “no rollout,” as one fan noted.
“Nothing against a few of these people, but this even being remotely successful should just show people to put out what you want and feel and it will be respected,” one user wrote.
“If this isn’t a wake-up call for rappers to make better songs/albums then idk what is,” added someone else.
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