J Cole's "Might Delete Later" Misses No. 1 Debut, Beyonce's "COWBOY CARTER" Takes Top Spot

With his last six album releases, J Cole has confidently held onto the Billboard 200 album chart's No. 1 spot. When it came time to drop his Might Delete Later project earlier this month, however, he had some serious competition from Beyonce, whose dive into country is continuing to do numbers even after its first week out. Upon arriving on DSPs, COWBOY CARTER became the best-selling record of 2024 so far, moving upwards of 400K units.

Though it was initially expected to come in at No. 2, it looks like Queen B has nabbed the top spot on the chart again this week, bumping Cole's work down to second. As HipHopDX notes, the surprise mixtape brought in 115K album equivalent units over the past few days, which is still impressive, even if it ends his over 10-year streak. 2011's Cole World: The Sideline Story was the first of the MC's LP's to go No. 1, and 2021's The Off-Season marks the last time he achieved the accolade. Besides his solo efforts, the Dreamville compilation tape, Revenge of the Dreamers III became a chart-topper in 2019, making it the label head's seventh overall.

J Cole Was Heading for Billboard’s No. 1, but Bey Ultimately Beat Him

The loss is likely tough for the father of two, but he and Bey have previously collaborated so we're hoping there's no bad blood. In 2011, Cole joined the Houston native to remix "Party," which he revealed he was initially supposed to be on the original version of. "Just the fact to even be on the song with her and shoot the video with her and just be in her presence. She’s such a hard-working, incredible artist," he said on the Rise & Grind Morning Show last year.

The men of hip-hop have been feuding non-stop in recent weeks, and though he's usually a peaceful person, even J Cole found himself in the middle of Drake and Kendrick Lamar's drama. However, after coming for K-Dot on "7 Minute Drill," the North Carolina native ultimately left the diss track off his Might Delete Later project, though it still landed on the Billboard Hot 100. Read all about that at the link below, and check back later for more music/pop culture news updates.

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