1991 was the first year that Nielsen started tracking music sales data.

I find it super interesting to look at this and see how current artists stack up against artists of the past so I broke it down into a few charts.

Year Artist Album Sales 1991 ??? ??? ??? 1992 ??? ??? ??? 1993 Snoop Dogg Doggystyle 803K 1994 Snoop Doggy Dogg Murder Was the Case 329K 1995 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony E.1999 Eternal 307K 1996 2Pac The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 664K 1997 The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death 690K 1998 Beastie Boys Hello Nasty 681K 1999 DMX …And Then There Was X 698K 2000 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 1.76M 2001 DMX The Great Depression 439K 2002 Eminem The Eminem Show 1.322M 2003 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 872K 2004 Eminem Encore 710K 2005 50 Cent The Massacre 1.14M 2006 Jay-Z Kingdom Come 680K 2007 Kanye West Graduation 957K 2008 Lil Wayne Tha Carter III 1.006M 2009 Eminem Relapse 608K 2010 Eminem Recovery 741K 2011 Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV 964K 2012 Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded 253K 2013 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 792K 2014 J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive 375K 2015 Drake If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late 535K 2016 Drake Views 1.075M 2017 Kendrick Lamar DAMN. 610K 2018 Drake Scorpion 749K 2019 Kanye West JESUS IS KING 276K 2020 Juice WRLD Legends Never Die 497K 2021 Drake Certified Lover Boy 613K

Charts By Year

1991 – Nielsen begins to track music sales data.

Artist Album Sales ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

A lot of data was impossible for me to find here. If I had to guess, N.W.A.’s “Niggaz4Life”, Ice Cube’s “Death Certificate”, MC Hammer’s “Too Legit to Quit”, Public Enemy’s “Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black”, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s “Homebase”, and Various Artist’s “Boyz n the Hood (soundtrack)” probably round out the top 5.

1992 – N.W.A succeeds as solo acts

Artist Album Sales ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

Couldn’t find much data for 92. I’m going to guess that Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic”, Beastie Boys’ “Check Your Head”, Too $hort’s “Shorty the Pimp”, MC Ren’s “Kizz My Black Azz”, and Ice Cube’s “The Predator” (193K) round out the top 5.

1993 – The Rise of Snoop Dogg

Artist Album Sales Snoop Dogg Doggystyle 803K Cypress Hill Black Sunday 261K Ice Cube Lethal Injection 215K Eazy-E It’s On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa 111K ??? ??? ???

Snoop set the record for best first week for a debut album. No data for number 5 but I’m going to assume it was LL Cool J’s “14 Shots to the Dome”.

1994 – Bone Thugs on ah Come Up

Artist Album Sales Snoop Doggy Dogg Murder Was the Case 329K Dr. Dre Concrete Roots 250K Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Creepin on ah Come Up 220K Warren G Regulate… G Funk Era 176K Scarface The Diary 155K

1995 – The rise of 2Pac

Artist Album Sales Bone Thugs-N-Harmony E.1999 Eternal 307K Tha Dogg Pound Dogg Food 278K 2Pac Me Against The World 240K Cypress Hill Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom 142K Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… 130K

1996 – The death of 2Pac

Artist Album Sales 2Pac The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 664K 2Pac All Eyez On Me 566K Snoop Dogg Tha Doggfather 479K Nas It Was Written 268K The Fugees The Score 206K

1997 – The death of Biggie

Artist Album Sales The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death 690K Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever 612K P. Diddy No Way Out 561K 2Pac R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 549K Bone Thugs-N-Harmony The Art Of War 394K

1998 – X is coming…

Artist Album Sales Beastie Boys Hello Nasty 681K DMX Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood 670K Snoop Dogg Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told 520K Master P MP Da Last Don 495K Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 423K

DMX’s “It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot” also sold 251K making 1998 a dominant year for X.

1999 – The rise of Nas and Jay-Z

Artist Album Sales DMX …And Then There Was X 698K Dr. Dre 2001 516K The Notorious B.I.G. Born Again 485K Nas I Am 470K Jay-Z Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter 462K

Eminem debuted with 283K first week for his “The Slim Shady LP”.

2000 – A new millennium and the rise of Eminem

Artist Album Sales Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 1.76M Jay-Z The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 558K Outkast Stankonia 530K Snoop Dogg Tha Last Meal 397K Mystikal Let’s Get Ready 330K

Eminem smashed N.W.A.’s record and had the most successful first week in hip hop by far. Outkast has their best commercial week thus far. Nelly debuted with 235K sales for “Country Grammar”.

2001 – The beginning of the end for DMX

Artist Album Sales DMX The Great Depression 439K 2Pac Until The End of Time 427K Jay-Z The Blueprint 420K D12 Devil’s Night 372K Ja Rule Pain Is Love 361K

2002 – Eminem continues to dominate, the rise of Nelly

Artist Album Sales Eminem The Eminem Show 1.322M Nelly Nellyville 714K Eminem 8 Mile OST 702K Jay-Z The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse 545K 2Pac Better Dayz 366K

Somehow Pac was still having huuge debuts even 6 years after his death.

2003 – The rise of 50 Cent

Artist Album Sales 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 872K Outkast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 510K Jay-Z The Black Album 463K 2Pac Tupac: Resurrection 430K Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer 429K

G-Unit’s “Beg for Mercy” debuted with 377K. Somehow 2Pac continued to stay on top.

2004 – The rise of Kanye West. Eminem, G-Unit & Nelly continue to dominate

Artist Album Sales Eminem Encore 710K D12 D12 World 544K Kanye West The College Dropout 441K Lloyd Banks The Hunger for More 433K Nelly Suit 396K

Young Buck’s “Straight Outta Cashville” debuted with 361K. Nelly’s “Sweat” debuted with 342K. 2Pac continued to post great first weeks with “Loyal to the Game” debuting with 330K.

2005 – 50 Cent “massacres” the competition, the rise of Lil Wayne

Artist Album Sales 50 Cent The Massacre 1.14M Kanye West Late Registration 860K The Game The Documentary 586K 50 Cent Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ OST 317K Lil Wayne Tha Carter II 254K

2006 – Kingdom Come

Artist Album Sales Jay-Z Kingdom Come 680K T.I. King 522K The Game Doctors Advocate 358K Nas Hip Hop Is Dead 356K Young Jeezy The Inspiration 352K

Rick Ross’ “Port of Miami” debuted with 187K.

2007 – Kanye kills gangster rap

Artist Album Sales Kanye West Graduation 957K 50 Cent Curtis 697K T.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P. 468K Jay-Z American Gangster 426K Fabolous From Nothin’ to Somethin’ 159K

2008 – Weezy F Baby and the F is for “first week king”

Artist Album Sales Lil Wayne Tha Carter III 1.006M T.I. Paper Trail 568K Kanye West 808s & Heartbreak 450K Young Jeezy The Recession 260K The Game LAX 240K

2009 – Eminem’s return to the top and a new empire

Artist Album Sales Eminem Relapse 608K Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 476K 50 Cent Before I Self Destruct 160K Rick Ross Deeper Than Rap 158K Young Money We Are Young Money 142K

2010 – The rise of Drake and Nicki

Artist Album Sales Eminem Recovery 741K Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 496K Drake Thank Me Later 447K Nicki Minaj Pink Friday 395K Lil Wayne Rebirth 176K Rick Ross Teflon Don 176K

2011 – Weezy back on top and the rise of J. Cole

Artist Album Sales Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV 964K Drake Take Care 631K Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch the Throne 436K Young Jeezy Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition 233K J. Cole Cole World: The Sideline Story 217K

2012 – The rise of King Kendrick

Artist Album Sales Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded 253K Kendrick Lamar Good Kid, M.A.A.D City 242K Rick Ross God Forgives, I Don’t 218K GOOD Music Cruel Summer 205K T.I. Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head 179K

Meek Mill’s “Dreams & Nightmares” debuts with 165K.

2013 – Eminem is still sales king

Artist Album Sales Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 792K Drake Nothing Was the Same 658K Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail 527K Kanye West Yeezus 328K J. Cole Born Sinner 298K

Drake’s “Nothing Was The Same” became the most pirated album of all time. A$AP Rocky’s “Long. Live. ASAP” debuts with 139K.

2014 – The rise of streaming

Artist Album Sales J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive 375K Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint 244K Rick Ross Mastermind 179K ScHoolboy Q Oxymoron 139K Shady Records Shady XV 138K

In 2014 Billboard began to take streaming into account for first week sales and total album sales.

2015 – Back to Back

Artist Album Sales Drake If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late 535K Drake & Future What a Time to Be Alive 375K Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly 363K Dr. Dre Compton 295K Meek Mill Dreams Worth More Than Money 245K

2016 – Views from the top

Artist Album Sales Drake Views 1.075M J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only 511K Kendrick Lamar untitled unmastered 182K Future Evol 139K A Tribe Called Quest We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service 136K

Drake becomes the first artist to do a million in a week since Lil Wayne in 2008. “The Life Of Pablo” marks the first time in his career that a Kanye album does not have a top five debut week.

2017 – Kendrick is king

Artist Album Sales Kendrick Lamar DAMN. 610K Drake More Life 505K Eminem Revival 265K Logic Everybody 251K Big Sean I Decided 156K

Eminem’s “Revival” had his worst first week since “The Slim Shady LP” in 1999. Due to Tidal not reporting streaming numbers, Jay-Z’s “4:44” is his first album since “In My Lifetime, Vol. 1” from 1997 not to have a top five debut week.

Tyler, The Creator, and Lil Uzi Vert burst into the mainstream with their albums “Flower Boy” and “Luv Is Rage 2”, selling 106K and 126K respectively.

2018 – Drake cements himself as number one, Weezy is free, and the rise of Travis Scott

Artist Album Sales Drake Scorpion 749K Travis Scott Astroworld 553K Lil Wayne Tha Carter V 480K Eminem Kamikaze 434K J. Cole KOD 395K

Cardi B’s “Invasion of Privacy” debuts with 254K. Meek Mill’s first album after being released from prison, “Championships” debuts with 229K.

2019 – Jesus Is King is king

Artist Album Sales Kanye West JESUS IS KING 276K Juice WRLD Death Race For Love 164K JACKBOYS JACKBOYS 154K DaBaby KIRK 146K DJ Khaled Father Of Asahd 132K

Tyler, The Creator’s “IGOR” debuts with 172K. He did not view the release as a hip-hop album, which is why it is omitted from this list.

2020 – Legends Never Die

Artist Album Sales Juice WRLD Legends Never Die 497K Lil Uzi Vert Eternal Atake 288K Eminem Music To Be Murdered By 279K Pop Smoke Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon 251K Drake Dark Lane Demo Tapes 223K

Juice WRLD’s and Pop Smoke’s first posthumous albums see their largest commercial success. Lil Baby’s “My Turn” debuts with 197K.

2021 – Kanye v Drake: Dawn of Prolonged Album Rollouts

Artist Album Sales Drake Certified Lover Boy 613K Kanye West Donda 309K J. Cole The Off-Season 282K Tyler, The Creator CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST 170K Lil Baby & Lil Durk The Voice of the Heroes 150K

Top 100 First Weeks of All Time

Artist Title Year First Week Sales 1 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 1.76M 2 Eminem The Eminem Show 2002 1.322M 3 50 Cent The Massacre 2005 1.14M 4 Drake Views 2016 1.075M 5 Lil Wayne Tha Carter III 2008 1.006M 6 Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV 2011 964K 7 Kanye West Graduation 2007 957K 8 50 Cent Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 2003 872K 9 Kanye West Late Registration 2005 860K 10 Snoop Dogg Doggystyle 1993 803K 11 Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 2013 792K 12 Drake Scorpion 2018 749K 13 Eminem Recovery 2010 741K 14 Nelly Nellyville 2002 714K 15 Eminem Encore 2004 710K 16 Eminem 8 Mile OST 2002 702K 17 DMX …And Then There Was X 1999 698K 18 50 Cent Curtis 2007 697K 19 The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death 1997 690K 20 Beastie Boys Hello Nasty 1998 681K 21 Jay-Z Kingdom Come 2006 680K 22 DMX Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood 1998 670K 23 2Pac The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory 1996 664K 24 Drake Nothing Was the Same 2013 658K 25 Drake Take Care 2011 631K 26 Drake Certified Lover Boy 2021 613K 27 Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever 1997 612K 28 Kendrick Lamar DAMN. 2017 610K 29 Eminem Relapse 2009 608K 30 The Game The Documentary 2005 586K 31 T.I. Paper Trail 2008 568K 32 2Pac All Eyez On Me 1996 566K 33 P. Diddy No Way Out 1997 561K 34 Jay-Z The Dynasty: Roc La Familia 2000 558K 35 Travis Scott Astroworld 2018 553K 36 2Pac R U Still Down? (Remember Me) 1997 549K 37 Jay-Z The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse 2002 545K 38 D12 D12 World 2004 544K 39 Drake If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late 2015 535K 40 Outkast Stankonia 2000 530K 41 Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail 2013 527K 42 T.I. King 2006 522K 43 Snoop Dogg Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told 1998 520K 44 Dr. Dre 2001 1999 516K 45 J. Cole 4 Your Eyez Only 2016 511K 46 Outkast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 2003 510K 47 Drake More Life 2017 505K 48 Juice WRLD Legends Never Die 2020 497K 49 Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2010 496K 50 Master P MP Da Last Don 1998 495K 51 The Notorious B.I.G. Born Again 1999 485K 52 Lil Wayne Tha Carter V 2018 480K 53 Snoop Dogg Tha Doggfather 1996 479K 54 Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 2009 476K 55 Nas I Am 1999 470K 56 T.I. T.I. vs. T.I.P. 2007 468K 57 Jay-Z The Black Album 2003 463K 58 Jay-Z Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter 1999 462K 59 Kanye West 808’s & Heartbreak 2008 450K 60 Drake Thank Me Later 2010 447K 61 Kanye West The College Dropout 2004 441K 62 DMX The Great Depression 2001 439K 63 Jay-Z & Kanye West Watch The Throne 2011 436K 64 Eminem Kamikaze 2018 434K 65 Lloyd Banks The Hunger for More 2004 433K 66 2Pac Tupac: Resurrection 2003 430K 67 Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer 2003 429K 68 2Pac Until The End of Time 2001 427K 69 Jay-Z American Gangster 2007 426K 70 Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 1998 423K 71 Jay-Z The Blueprint 2001 420K 72 Method Man Tical 2000: Judgement Day 1998 411K 73 2Pac & Outlawz Still I Rise 1999 408K 74 J. Cole KOD 2018 398K 75 Snoop Dogg Tha Last Meal 2000 397K 76 Nelly Suit 2004 396K 77 Nicki Minaj Pink Friday 2010 395K 78 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony The Art Of War 1997 394K 79 Mystikal Ghetto Fabulous 1998 385K 79 The Game Doctor’s Advocate 2006 385K 81 G-Unit Beg for Mercy 2003 377K 82 J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive 2014 375K 82 Drake & Future What A Time to Be Alive 2015 375K 84 D12 Devil’s Night 2001 372K 85 2Pac Better Dayz 2002 366K 86 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly 2015 363K 87 Ja Rule Pain Is Love 2001 361K 87 Young Buck Straight Outta Cashville 2004 361K 89 Beastie Boys To the 5 Boroughs 2004 360K 90 Nas Hip Hop Is Dead 2006 356K 91 Young Jeezy The Inspiration 2006 352K 92 Jay-Z Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life 1998 350K 93 Nelly Sweat 2004 342K 93 Nas Stillmatic 2001 342K 95 Mystikal Let’s Get Ready 2000 330K 95 2Pac Loyal to the Game 2004 330K 97 Snoop Doggy Dogg Murder Was the Case 1994 329K 98 Kanye West Yeezus 2013 328K 99 Various Artists Bad Boys II 2003 324K 100 Ludacris The Red Light District 2004 322K

Here is a graph showing the number of albums in the top 100 per year