Hip-hop is back on top in 2026. Late last year, Billboard reported that hip-hop’s market share dropped from 30 percent in 2020 to 24 percent in 2025, which sparked debates among fans and critics about whether rap was losing its selling power or simply resetting.
The start of this year proves the genre is thriving. So far, albums from J. Cole, A$AP Rocky and Don Toliver, among others, have earned big sales numbers with their respective projects.
A$AP Rocky had quite the impressive start in 2026. In January, the Harlem rhymer, who hadn’t dropped an album in eight years, released his eagerly-awaited album, Don’t Be Dumb, and nabbed his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. His project moved 123,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release.
Not to be outdone, YoungBoy Never Broke Again dropped his 17th album, Slime Cry, on the same day as Rocky and saw the biggest sales of his career. His LP pushed 70,000 equivalent album units in its opening week.
Then, at the end of January, Don Toliver delivered his new project, Octane. The collection garnered the Houston rapper-singer his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. The set earned an impressive 162,000 equivalent album units, which is his best first-sales week ever in his career.
Meanwhile, J. Cole scored the highest album sales among rappers this year. The North Carolina rhymer’s magnum opus, The Fall-Off, moved 280,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release.
So with that, XXL highlights the biggest first-week sales for hip-hop projects in 2026, so far.
See Best-Selling Hip-Hop Projects in 2026 So Far
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