A$AP Rocky took almost eight years to drop his long-anticipated album Don't Be Dumb, but it finally landed as hip-hop's first massive release of the year. It translated into a big debut, as the project landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart following the tally of first week sales numbers. And his partner Rihanna could not be happier.
According to the publication, the LP sold 123,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, admittedly a far cry from A$AP Rocky's original Don't Be Dumb projections. Early predictions and sales activity suggested a 200K first week debut, but this did not turn out to be the case.
However, it's a bit above A$AP Rocky's updated projections for Don't Be Dumb, which emerged earlier this week. Basically, not all of the vinyl sales that led to the 200K projection ended up counting for the final tally. This discrepancy owes itself to the lack of shipment for most of the vinyl sales, which will update accordingly once they go out for subsequent weeks. The most recent projections set it at 119K. As such, the final numbers are a small but nonetheless impactful bump. The runners-up this week, ENHYPEN and Bad Bunny, both got around 121K.
RiRi took to Twitter to share her excitement about her boo getting the number one spot. "Just me here to let yall know my baby daddy got the NUMBER 1 ALBUM!!! Aaahhhhhh hah! DONT BE DUMB!!!" she wrote. Considering some recent discussions around A$AP Rocky's relationship with Rihanna as it relates to Drake, this must feel gratifying to some fans and vindictive to others.
Read More: A$AP Rocky "Don't Be Dumb" Review
A$AP Rocky's Don't Be Dumb's First Week Sales
Concerning Rocky's final Don't Be Dumb first week sales totaling 123K, 76K of those are from streaming, specifically 78 million on-demand streams, which is his best week ever. Album sales, such as vinyls, account for 47K.
These physical and digital editions of the record included standard 15-track LPs, a 15-track CD, a cassette, digital and streaming versions with two extra tracks, over a dozen vinyl variants, CD deluxe box sets including merch items, and two more tracks added to the digital and streaming versions of the album after its release. More specifically, these tracks are the "I Smoked Away My Brain (I'm God x Demons)" mashup with Clams Casino and Imogen Heap, as well as "FLACKITO JOYDE" with Tokischa.
All in all, it seems like a pretty good moment for Rocky and Rihanna to celebrate. We waited for Don't Be Dumb for a long time, and now's the time to soak it in. Plus, A$AP Rocky's Don't Be Dumb Disc 2 is on the way...
