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Top 10 Longest Charting Nigerian Albums On US Billboard 200
The US ‘Billboard 200’ is a weekly-updated record chart that ranks the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in America, the world’s largest music market. Read on to see the longest charting Nigerian albums ever on the Billboard 200.
Fourty one years ago, Nigeria scored its first entry ever on the US Billboard 200 with King Sunny Ade’s 1982 cross-over album ‘Juju Music’.
For so many years only King Sunny Ade entered the chart – until Wizkid released his third studio album ‘Sounds From The Other Side’ in 2017. The album thus became the third Nigerian album, and the first one in over 30 years, to debut on Billboard 200.
After Wizkid’s, many albums by different Nigerian artists, specifically Afrobeats artists, have also debuted on the chart. This article therefore aims to list the top 10 longest charting Nigerian albums on the Billboard 200.
10. ‘Sounds From The Other Side’ – Wizkid
This was the first ‘modern’ Nigerian album to secure a spot on the Billboard 200. It was Wizkid’s cross-over album to the western world, released in 2017. It stayed one week on the Billboard 200 before exiting.
9. ‘Playboy’ – Fireboy DML
Released in late 2022, ‘Playboy’ is the third studio album by Fireboy DML. It debuted on the Billboard 200 shortly after its release and spent one week on the chart.
It’s important to note here that ‘Playboy’ and ‘Sounds From The Other Side’ are not the only Nigerian albums to spend one week on the chart. They share a tie record with such albums as Asake’s Work Of Art, Burna Boy’s African Giant and Twice As Tall, Davido’s A Better Time, and Wizkid’s More Love, Less Ego. All of these albums also spent one week on the Billboard 200.
8. ‘Timeless’ – Davido
Davido scored a second entry on the Billboard 200 with his 2023 album ‘Timeless’. While ‘A Better Time’ stayed one week, ‘Timeless’ stayed two weeks on the chart.
7. ‘Mr Money With The Vibe’ – Asake
Asake’s debut album ‘Mr Money With The Vibe’, released in mid 2022, debuted on the Billboard 200 chart and spent three weeks charting.
6. ‘CKay The First’ – CKay
‘CKay The First’ by ‘Love Nwantiti’ cronner CKay debuted on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for seven weeks.
5. ‘Synchro System’ – King Sunny Ade
King Sunny Ade opened doors with ‘Juju Music’ in 1982. The following year in 1983, he replicated his first success with another hit album ‘Syncro System’, which also debuted on the Billboard 200 and spent 10 weeks.
4. ‘Love, Damini’ – Burna Boy
In 2022, Burna Boy’s ‘Love, Damini’ became his first album to stay more than one week on the Billboard 200. It spent 12 weeks charting.
3. ‘Made In Lagos’ – Wizkid
There was a time Wizkid was celebrated as the record holder for the longest charting Nigerian album of this decade on the Billboard 200 – when his hit album ‘Made In Lagos’, released in late 2020, spent 22 weeks on the chart!
2. ‘Juju Music’ – King Sunny Ade
As already mentioned in the beginning of this article, ‘Juju Music’ championed the debut of Nigerian albums on Billboard 200. It was the first Nigerian album to enter the chart and spent 29 weeks! For about 41 years, it stayed as the longest charting Nigerian album on the chart until recently.
1. ‘Rave & Roses’ – Rema
Rema broke the 41-year-old record set by King Sunny Ade, with his debut album ‘Rave & Roses’, released in early 2022. The album has seen a lot of successes, and is arguably the most commercially successful Nigerian album of all-time. It has spent a record 30 weeks on the Billboard 200! It is still on the chart, the only Nigerian album there presently.
