André 3000’s New Blue Sun outsells several major rap albums
His instrumental flute album debuted with more opening week sales than recent releases from Lil Wayne, Ice Spice, and more.
André 3000's New Blue Sun reportedly surpassed several popular rap releases in first week sales.
According to data collected by Hits Daily Double, the instrumental flute album debuted at No. 30 on the Billboard 200, moving a total of 24,244 album-equivalent units. And as Grammy-nominated producer Buckwild noted, this means 3000 — who does zero rapping on the record — outsold a number of major label hip hop records from 2023 in its first week, including highly anticipated albums from Kodak Black (When I Was Dead), Nas (Magic 2 and Magic 3), and Lil Wayne (Tha Fix Before tha VI).
Additionally, New Blue Sun's opening track, "I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A 'Rap' Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time," garnered quite the response, debuting at No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Released on Friday, November 24, the ambient woodwind production is 3000's first release in 17 years following the OutKast's Idlewild. It also comes on the heels of OutKast's 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below becoming the best-selling rap album of all time in late September.