Ever since The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill became the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 chart , there have been countless hip hop artists who have dropped number one albums.
From Tone Loc’s Loc-ed After Dark in 1989 and to MC Hammer’s 1990 juggernaut Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em , to Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle (which broke the sales record for a debuting artist) and 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ (which broke Snoop’s record), rap culture are full of number one artists .
There have been less acts, however, who have dropped more than one chart-topper over the course of their recording career, and even less who have dropped multiple number ones.
From YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Drake, to Jay-Z and 2Pac, here are 15 rappers with the most number one albums on the Billboard 200.
15. YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Number one albums: 4
- AI YoungBoy 2 (2019)
- 38 Baby 2 (2020)
- Top (2020)
- Sincerely, Kentrell (2021)
14. Beastie Boys
Number one albums: 4
- Licensed to Ill (1986)
- Ill Communication (1994)
- Hello Nasty (1998)
- To the 5 Boroughs (2004)
13. Ludacris
Number one albums: 4
- Chicken-n-Beer (2003)
- The Red Light District (2004)
- Release Therapy (2006)
- Battle of the Sexes (2010)
12. Rick Ross
Number one albums: 5
- Port of Miami (2006)
- Trilla (2008)
- Deeper Than Rap (2009)
- God Forgives, I Don’t (2012)
- Mastermind (2014)
11. Tupac Shakur
Number one albums: 5
- Me Against the World (1995)
- All Eyez on Me (1996)
- The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
- Until the End of Time (2001)
- Loyal to the Game (2004)
10. Kendrick Lamar
Number one albums: 5
- To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
- untitled unmastered. (2016)
- DAMN. (2017)
- Black Panther (with various artists) (2018)
- Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022)
9. Lil Wayne
Number one albums: 5
- Tha Carter III (2008)
- I Am Not a Human Being (2010)
- Tha Carter IV (2011)
- Tha Carter V (2018)
- Funeral (2020)
8. DMX
Number one albums: 5
- It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)
- Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998)
- … And Then There Was X (1999)
- The Great Depression (2001)
- Grand Champ (2003)
7. Nas
Number one albums: 6
- It Was Written (1996)
- The Album (with The Firm) (1997)
- I Am… (1999)
- Hip Hop Is Dead (2006)
- Untitled (2008)
- Life Is Good (2012)
6. J. Cole
Number one albums: 7
- Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)
- Born Sinner (2013)
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014)
- 4 Your Eyez Only (2016)
- KOD (2018)
- Revenge of the Dreamers III (with Dreamville) (2019)
- The Off-Season (2021)
5. Future
Number one albums: 8
- DS2 (2015)
- What a Time to Be Alive (with Drake) (2015)
- Evol (2016)
- Future (2017)
- Hndrxx (2017)
- The Wizrd (2019)
- High Off Life (2020)
- I Never Liked You (2022)
4. Kanye West
Number one albums: 10
- Late Registration (2005)
- Graduation (2007)
- 808s & Heartbreak (2008)
- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
- Watch the Throne (with Jay-Z) (2011)
- Yeezus (2013)
- The Life of Pablo (2016)
- Ye (2018)
- Jesus Is King (2019)
- Donda (2021)
3. Eminem
Number one albums: 10
- The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
- The Eminem Show (2002)
- 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture (with various artists) (2002)
- Encore (2004)
- Relapse (2009)
- Recovery (2010)
- The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013)
- Revival (2017)
- Kamikaze (2018)
- Music to Be Murdered By (2020)
2. Drake
Number one albums: 11
- Thank Me Later (2010)
- Take Care (2011)
- Nothing Was the Same (2013)
- If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015)
- What a Time to Be Alive (with Future) (2015)
- Views (2016)
- More Life (2017)
- Scorpion (2018)
- Care Package (2019)
- Certified Lover Boy (2021)
- Honestly, Nevermind (2022)
1. Jay-Z
Number one albums: 14
- Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life (1998)
- Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
- The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
- The Blueprint (2001)
- The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002)
- The Black Album (2003)
- Unfinished Business (with R. Kelly) (2004)
- Collision Course (with Linkin Park) (2004)
- Kingdom Come (2006)
- American Gangster (2007)
- The Blueprint 3 (2009)
- Watch the Throne (with Kanye West) (2011)
- Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)
- 4:44 (2017)
