Kendrick Lamar has been no stranger to the charts over the past decade and his most recent album DAMN. is one of his many projects leading the way.
According to Chart Data, the Compton-bred MC’s 2017 LP has now spent 200 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. The Pulitzer Prize-winning, triple-platinum DAMN. was released on April 14, 2017 and hasn’t left the Top 200 since it debuted at No. 1 with roughly 603,000 total album-equivalent units.
If it stays there for another five weeks, the album will have been in the Billboard 200 for four years straight.
With features from Rihanna, U2 and fellow TDE member Zacari, the official follow-up to 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly spawned multi-platinum singles including “HUMBLE.,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, along with “LOYALTY.” and “LOVE.” both appearing in the Top 20.
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Following the release of DAMN., Kendrick spoke to Beats 1 about the longevity of his music and how God is using him as a vessel.
“I like to put a lot of different things and wordplays and messages in my music because I want it to live further than two weeks,” Kendrick told Zane Lowe at the time. “I always felt like God used me as a vessel, whether to share my flaws, my intellect, my pain… [I’ve] always been a vessel. I can say the nastiest thing on record but I still feel like that’s [being] a vessel. You need to hear it. I can’t sugarcoat the reality.”
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True to his words, DAMN. made an impact much longer than 14 days, but it’ll have to hold its position in the Top 200 a whole lot longer to beat another milestone set by Kendrick.
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In June 2020, his major label debut good kid, m.A.A.d citymade history as the longest-charting Hip Hop album of all time by spending 400 weeks on the Billboard 200. As of February 16, the album is remarkably still on the chart after 433 weeks.
