Ice Cube Back in Rap Albums’ Top 10 for First Time in 14 Years

For the first time in 14 years, Ice Cube has a solo album in the top on Billboard’s Top Rap Albums as Man Down debuts at No. 8 on the chart dated Dec. 7. The set was released Nov. 22 through Lench Mob/Hitmaker Records and earned 20,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the tracking week ending Nov. 28, according to Luminate.

Of the first-week figure, album sales contribute 15,000 units, making Man Down the second-highest-selling rap album of the week, behind only Kendrick Lamar’s GNX (32,000). The project also debuts at No. 9 on the all-genre Top Album Sales chart. Five thousand units derive from the streaming sector, representing 13.9 million official on-demand U.S. audio and video streams of the album’s tracks, with a negligible amount of track-equivalent activity. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.)

Thanks to Man Down, Ice Cube earns his fourth solo top 10 on the Top Rap Albums chart, which launched in 2004. It joins 2006’s Laugh Now, Cry Later (No. 2), 2008’s one-week No. 1 Raw Footage and 2010’s I Am the West (No. 6). Plus, N.W.A., the legendary West Coast hip-hop group whose best known lineup consists of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella, had The Best of N.W.A.: The Strength of Street Knowledge peak at No. 25 in 2007.

Elsewhere, Man Down opens at No. 12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, Ice Cube’s best start since I Am the West began at No. 7 in 2010. Its arrival gives the rapper his 17th solo appearance on the list, a count that includes five No. 1s. Notably, N.W.A. has charted six titles on the list, with 1991’s Efil4zaggin the highest peaking, at No. 2.

Man Down includes Ice Cube’s current single “It’s My Ego,” which repeats at its No. 28 high on the Rhythmic Airplay chart. Despite no position movement, the song added 39% more plays in the latest tracking week.