Kendrick Lamar's 'GNX' outperforms Eminem's 'Death of Slim Shady'

Kendrick Lamar just knocked Eminem off the top spot in 2024’s rap race.

His surprise album, GNX, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Dec. 7, earning K. Dot his fifth consecutive chart-topping album.

Released without any build-up or promotion on November 22, GNX pulled in 319,000 equivalent album units in its first week, according to Luminate via Billboard. That figure not only marks the sixth-largest debut of 2024 but also surpasses Eminem’s Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), which also opened at the No.1 spot on Billboard 200 dated July 27, but with only 281,000 units. 

GNX’s streaming stats tell an equally dominant story. The 12-track album amassed a staggering 379.72 million on-demand streams, securing the biggest streaming week of 2024 for an R&B/hip-hop album and the third-largest overall. Among all genres, GNX trails only Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which posted even higher streaming numbers earlier this year.

Lamar’s achievement cements his reign in the industry and builds on a streak of No. 1 albums that dates back to his 2012 breakout good kid, m.A.A.d city.