Nipsey Hussle returns to Billboard charts as ‘Prolific’ makes a strong debut
TheGrio...
The late rapper’s collaborative album with Bino Rideaux lands on six Billboard charts, including four top 10 appearances.
More than seven years after his death, Nipsey Hussle is back on the Billboard charts with music he helped shape before his passing.
“Prolific,” the late Los Angeles rapper’s collaborative album with longtime protégé Bino Rideaux, debuted on six Billboard rankings following its Aug. 14 release, according to Forbes. The 15-track project landed at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 while earning four top 10 debuts across the publication’s genre and sales charts.
The album opened at No. 4 on Top Rap Albums, No. 6 on Top Album Sales and No. 8 on both Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Vinyl Albums. It also arrived at No. 40 on Billboard’s Top Streaming Albums chart, marking the first appearance on that relatively new ranking for both Hussle and Rideaux.
One of the project’s songs is making its own impact. “500 Horses” debuted at No. 20 on Hot Rap Songs and No. 29 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It becomes Hussle’s sixth entry on the rap chart and his 13th on the broader R&B and hip-hop ranking.
While “Prolific” is Hussle’s first full posthumous album, the project is notably different from collections assembled from an artist’s unfinished recordings after their death.
Hussle and Rideaux recorded the project together years before Hussle was fatally shot outside his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles in March 2019. Rideaux told the Los Angeles Times that the pair recorded and sequenced the album nearly two years before Hussle’s death, and Hussle even selected the cover art.
That aligns with what Hussle’s older brother, Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom, previously told theGrio while discussing how the family has protected the rapper’s catalog.
“This is something that he put together,” Blacc Sam said earlier this year. “He sequenced the track listing. He picked what made it and what didn’t.”
Rideaux, who was mentored by Hussle, previously teamed with him for the 2017 project “No Pressure.” Their relationship grew after Hussle heard Rideaux’s early work and invited the South Central artist into the studio, eventually developing into both a musical partnership and mentorship.
With “Prolific,” the pair explored a somewhat different side of their chemistry. Rideaux has said the project was conceived with women in mind and gave the two rappers room to address relationships and vulnerability while experimenting beyond some of the street-focused material associated with their earlier collaboration.
The album includes appearances from Cardi B, Ty Dolla $ign, Leon Thomas, James Fauntleroy, Buddy, BH and the late Static Major. Apple Music lists the project at 15 tracks and 47 minutes. It was released one day before what would have been Hussle’s 41st birthday.
Its No. 21 Billboard 200 debut falls short of Hussle’s career high but adds another chapter to his chart history.
His Grammy-nominated 2018 debut studio album, “Victory Lap,” initially debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Following his death, the album surged to a new peak of No. 2 as fans returned to his catalog. His “Crenshaw” mixtape also entered the chart at No. 63 during that period, theGrio reported at the time.
“Prolific” now becomes another commercially successful piece of a legacy Hussle’s family has handled carefully since his death. Beyond his music, his influence remains tied to his advocacy for Black ownership, entrepreneurship and investment in South Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, Blacc Sam also emphasized that preserving Nipsey’s blueprint remains central to the family’s expansion of The Marathon brand.
Seven years later, “Prolific” shows that the marathon is continuing on the charts, too.