Kendrick Lamar has made history by becoming the first rapper to land three solo albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart simultaneously, according to a recent announcement by the iconic music publication.
Following his electrifying Super Bowl halftime performance on February 9, Lamar’s albums — GNX, DAMN, and good kid, m.A.A.d city — surged to No. 1, No. 9, and No. 10, respectively.
In addition to this remarkable achievement, Lamar’s Super Bowl show also broke viewership records, drawing 133.5 million viewers, surpassing Michael Jackson‘s 1993 halftime performance, which previously held the record at 133.4 million viewers.
Billboard highlighted that this marks the first time in the chart’s nearly 69-year history that a rapper has achieved such a feat. The Billboard 200, which has been a weekly staple since March 1956, has only seen a handful of artists join the ranks of multiple albums in the top 10 at once.
Before Lamar, pop superstar Taylor Swift held the record with three albums in the top 10, a milestone she reached on the December 9, 2023 chart. However, it was trumpeter Herb Alpert who first broke the male artist barrier in 1966, landing three albums in the top 10. Following him, Prince achieved the same feat posthumously in 2016.
This latest accomplishment adds to Lamar’s growing legacy, with his Super Bowl halftime show performance in 2018 also marking a significant cultural moment, propelling his Man of the Woods album into the Billboard 200 top 10.
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