J. COLE SEES HIS THIRD ALBUM HIT BILLBOARD AT NO. 1 AND HAS BIGGEST HIP-HOP SELLER OF 2014

J. COLE

J. Cole rules the Billboard 200 this week as his third album 2014 Forest Hills Drive enters at No. 1.

The North Carolina rapper takes the top spot from Taylor Swift’s 1989 by selling 371,000 copies in his first week. 2014 Forest Hills Drive marks Cole’s biggest opening week and the highest-selling debut of any hip-hop album in 2014, beating Rick Ross’ Mastermind (179,000).

His sophomore album Born Sinner debuted at No. 2 in June 2013 with 297,000 copies.

Cole announced the album less than a month before release and without any singles and little promotion. It was streamed 15.7 million times in one week on Spotify, setting an all-time record in the U.S.

His Roc Nation boss Jay Z also celebrated the victory. “New rules, new results,” he wrote on his website Life+Times.

Next week, look for debuts from Nicki Minaj, whose third album The Pinkprint is expected to sell 155-165,000, and D’Angelo’s surprise album Black Messiah (95-100,000).