Anderson.Paak and Cordae’s collaborative album Heavy Is the Crown has debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums chart, giving both artists their first ever No. 1 on that list. Billboard reported the result on November 3, on the charts dated November 7, 2026.
The album launched with 30,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the October 23 to 29 tracking week, according to Luminate — 19,000 from album sales and 11,000 from streaming. On the all-genre Billboard 200, Heavy Is the Crown opens at No. 11, the week’s highest-ranking debut, and it also opens at No. 2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
A chart discrepancy worth noting
Some outlets citing HITS Daily Double report a slightly different debut — No. 10 on the Billboard 200 with 30,290 units, including 18,428 pure album sales. Billboard’s official chart lists the album at No. 11 with 30,000 units. This story uses Billboard’s figures, as the official chart, but readers should know the two tallies differ slightly.
Either way, the rap-chart summit is the headline. It is the first No. 1 for each artist on the Top Rap Albums list. Cordae’s previous best was No. 4 with From a Birds Eye View in 2022, according to coverage of the chart, while.Paak’s previous best on the list was No. 3 with Yes Lawd!, under Nxwrries, his duo with producer Knxwledge, in November 2016.
Seven years from RNP to a joint crown
Cordae and Anderson.Paak first teamed up on “RNP” seven years ago, and Heavy Is the Crown is their first full-length album together. The 11-track record, released on October 23 through Apeshit, Mass Appeal and Empire, carries production from J. Cole and 9th Wonder, with further contributions from Swizz Beatz and Conductor Williams.
The standout early runner is “Airbender”, which pulled 2.4 million official U.S. on-demand streams in the opening week. It entered Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart at No. 21, giving .Paak his first appearance on that particular ranking and Cordae his fourth entry there.
A strong opening across the board
Beyond the rap chart, the album’s opening was strong across multiple categories: No. 2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Billboard’s Independent Albums chart, according to the album’s chart listings. For two artists who have each spent years near the top of the rap world without ever leading its album chart, the joint crown is a career first — earned together, seven years after their first collaboration.
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