How many number one albums does NBA YoungBoy have?
Still only 26 years old, it seems like YoungBoy Never Broke Again has been around for a long time.
He’s released an awful lot of music since emerging on the rap scene as a teenager, and he hasn’t ever really slowed down—despite spending a fair amount of time incarcerated. But, of his many albums and mixtapes, how many have ever topped the charts?
YoungBoy has released eight studio albums throughout his still-young life, but that’s only part of the story. He’s released three compilation albums, too, but it’s with his mixtape releases that he has most plainly demonstrated his prolific nature. He’s put out 26 of them, six of which were collaborations with other artists. In total he’s released way more albums and mixtapes than the number of years in which he’s been an active performer.
YoungBoy started releasing mixtapes while he was still a kid, but it was his seventh tape, AI YoungBoy, that was the first to chart in the United States, reaching number 24 on the Billboard 200 in 2017. AI YoungBoy marked its maker’s first release as a signed artist, after he joined Atlantic Records earlier that year, and it was just the beginning of a lot more chart success to come.
His first ever studio album, Until Death Call My Name, was released in April 2018, and it immediately entered the top ten of the Billboard 200—without quite going all the way. But it did produce some well-received singles, ultimately helping to build his profile and set the stage for his first number one the following year. In October 2019 he released mixtape number 12, AI YoungBoy 2, and this one went straight to the top spot of the Billboard 200. It was not to be the last.
His thirteenth mixtape, Still Flexin, reached number two following its release in February 2020, but it was only a couple of months later when his fourteenth, 38 Baby 2, came out and went straight to number one. This was his second chart-topping album, albeit he characterised it as a mixtape. He released an actual album, Top, in September that same year, and this, too, rocketed to number one upon release. That strange pandemic year of 2020 was a huge one for YoungBoy’s career.
Another studio album followed a year later, with Sincerely, Kentrell dropping in September 2021—while YoungBoy was in jail. This release also went straight to number one of the Billboard 200, making YoungBoy only the third artist to ever release a number-one album from prison. He was in esteemed company, with the other two being 2Pac and Lil Wayne.
After he got out in October ’21, he went on a bit of a music-releasing blitz. The mixtapes From the Bayou, Colors, and Better than You arrived in December 2021, January 2022 and March 2022 respectively, the first and third of these being collaborations with, in turn, Birdman and DaBaby. Of these tapes, Colors performed the best by reaching number two on the album charts.
A fourth studio album followed in August 2022, with The Last Slimeto reaching number two on the Billboard 200. The mixtapes Realer 2, 3800 Degrees, and Ma’ I Got A Family all swiftly followed, respectively reaching number 6, 12 and 7. This might seem disappointing, but, in fairness, their performance was perhaps restricted by sheer overexposure. A compilation album called Lost Files was released in December and reached number 45.
YoungBoy signed supposedly one of the biggest record deals ever with Motown Records in 2023, yet his releases since then haven’t exactly shaken the world. Fifth album I Rest My Case debuted at number nine in January, while sixth album Don’t Try This at Home fared a bit better by debuting at number five. His twentieth mixtape followed in May, debuting at number four. These were all solid chart performances, but, given how big his new deal with Motown was, at least one of them might have been expected to reach number one.
YoungBoy’s worst commercial failure came with album number seven, I Just Got a Lot on My Shoulders, following its release in December 2024. With YoungBoy incarcerated again, and much of the album already having been leaked, it reached only number 153 on the Billboard 200. This was his worst-performing release since he was an amateur teenager. Following his pardon from Donald Trump earlier this year, he released eighth album MASA, which did better by reaching number six. Perhaps this marks a return to form?
In total, then, YoungBoy has topped the Billboard 200, with a combination of mixtapes and albums, four times. The wildly prolific artist counts AI YoungBoy 2, 38 Baby 2, Top and Sincerely, Kentrell as his number-one releases.