Rod Wave Earns His Second No. 1 Album; Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Freaky Girl’ Sets a 21st Century Benchmark for Female Rappers

Thania Garcia
·4 min read

Florida rapper Rod Wave earns his second No. 1 album with the debut of his fourth studio effort, “Beautiful Mind,” which tops the Billboard 200 chart with 115,000 equivalent album units.

Meanwhile, topping this week’s Billboard Hot 100 is Nicki Minaj’s Rick James-interpolating “Super Freaky Girl,” which earns the rapper her first No. 1 as a solo artist. The track, which has quickly become a streaming favorite (21.1 million streams in its first week), is her third No. 1 on the songs chart (after two collaborations that hit the top in 2020: “Trollz,” with 6ix9ine, and “Say So,” with Doja Cat).

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Minaj’s out-of-the-box success with “Super Freaky Girl” isn’t just a milestone for her, but for all female rappers, in this century, at least. It’s the first No. 1 debut for a hip-hop song by a solo female artist with no accompanying features since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998.

Rod Wave’s Billboard 200-topping “Beautiful Mind” follows last year’s “SoulFly,” which also debuted at No. 1 on the album chart, as Billboard reports. The new 24-track album was introduced with lead single “Cold December,” which debuted in January and granted Wave his sixth top 40-charting hit. Prior to his last two studio efforts, Wave also made appearances in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with 2020’s “Pray 4 Love” (No. 2) and 2019’s “Ghetto Gospel” (No. 10).

“Beautiful Mind” was able to derail Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” from the top spot on the albums chart — just one week after it regained the position from Beyoncé’s “Renaissance.” Nonetheless, “Un Verano Sin Ti” shows no signs of deceleration after eight nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, with 108,000 equivalent album units earned in this frame (down less than 1% from last week). Meanwhile, “Renaissance” lands at No. 3 with 64,000 units

Megan Thee Stallion scores her fifth top 10 with the release of her sophomore album, “Traumazine,” which enters at No. 4 with 63,000 equivalent album units earned. The album came as somewhat of a surprise as its arrival was announced just one day before its premiere on Aug. 12. The set was spearheaded by a string of charting singles including “Sweetest Pie,” with Dua Lipa, “Plan B” and “Pressurelicious,” with Future.

Holdovers on the albums chart continue with YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s “The Last Slimeto” which sits at No. 5 in its second week with 50,000 equivalent album units earned, and Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” slipping two spots to No. 6. Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” also drops a couple of spots, to No. 7, with 43,000 units.

The Weeknd’s 2021 compilation album “The Highlights” is back in the top 10 — at No. 8 from its previous No. 36 position — with a little over 28,000 units earned. The set’s resurgence is largely driven by the TEA and SEA unit measurements of songs like “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears,” as the activity for those tracks is linked to the album with the highest traditional album sales in a week. Future’s “I Never Liked You” descends 7-9 with 28,000 equivalent album units earned while Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” is down a spot to No. 10 with 25,000 units.

Back on the Hot 100, the holdover songs on the chart following Minaj’s sizzling bow start with Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” which spent 10 weeks at the summit. Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” remains at No. 3 after formerly having topped the chart for two weeks. Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” slips to No. 4, after achieving the second of its two weeks at No. 1 a week earlier. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” falls 4-5 after hitting a No. 3 peak.

“Bad Habit,” Steve Lacy’s first top 10 hit on the songs chart, stays at No. 6, while Nicky Youre and Dazy’s “Sunroof” rises one spot to No. 7 for a new peak. Future’s “Wait for U,” featuring Drake and Tems, slips one position to No. 8; Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone’s “Me Porto Bonito” bounces 11-9; and at No. 10 is Post Malone’s “I Like You (A Happier Song),” featuring Doja Cat.

 

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