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Cordae and Anderson .Paak Finally Get Their Crown: 'Heavy Is the Crown' Debuts at No. 1

Neither had ever topped Billboard's rap albums chart. Together, they did it on the first try, and the sales did most of the work.

By Cory Harris | Nov 5, 2026, 4:06 AM CT | Updated Nov 5, 2026, 4:06 AM CT

Cordae and Anderson .Paak Finally Get Their Crown: 'Heavy Is the Crown' Debuts at No. 1 — Photo: Frank Schwichtenberg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). 2019 file photo of Cordae performing at Openair Frauenfeld, shown in full on a blurred backdrop.

"Eight years in of doing music professionally, 14 years since my first mixtape. Good things take time!" That was Cordae on X after he and Anderson .Paak landed their first No. 1, per HotNewHipHop.

Their joint album Heavy Is the Crown debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart, Billboard reported, moving 30,000 equivalent units in the Oct. 23-29 tracking week. Pure sales made up 19,000 of that, with 11,000 from streaming. That split says fans are actually buying the record.

First time at the top

Neither artist had topped the rap albums list before. Cordae's best was No. 4 with From a Birds Eye View in 2022, and .Paak's best was No. 3 with NxWorries' Yes Lawd! in 2016. The album also opened at No. 2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 11 on the Billboard 200.

"Airbender" is the breakout so far, debuting at No. 21 on Hot Rap Songs with 2.4 million on-demand streams. It is .Paak's first-ever entry on that chart. The 11-track project carries production from J. Cole and 9th Wonder, seven years after the two first linked on "RNP."

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Sources: HotNewHipHop, Billboard