Florida trap-soul rapper Rod Wave is projected to have a big first week debut. He recently released his album Nostalgia and it included 18 tracks of pure vibes. With just three features total throughout the project, including 21 Savage as the biggest one, Rod Wave's project is among some of the biggest first-week sales projections we've seen in a while. According to a post by DJ Akademiks shared yesterday (Sept. 19), "Rod Wave 'Nostalgia' [is] on pace to sell 133K first week." Fans responded, "We’ll deserved needs more! Great album timeless." "Great music still sells," another said. "Rod Wave new album is heat," someone else wrote.
According to HitsDailyDouble, it was reported last week that Nostalgia was projected to sell between 130K and 140K copies in its first week of release. This isn't exactly a new feat for Rod Wave, as his extremely dedicated and loyal fan base supports every release of his. In fact, his previous 2022 album, Beautiful Mind, earned first-week sales of 115K copies along with a top slot on the charts. Additionally, he previously achieved chart-topping success on the Billboard 200 with his albums SoulFly in 2021. Additionally, he secured a place in the Top 10 with Ghetto Gospel in 2019 and Jupiter's Diary: 7 Day Theory EP in 2022.
Rod Wave Could Outperform Majority Of Projects This Year
These projections would make Nostalgia "the third-biggest rap debut of 2023." Taking the first and second spots include Lil Uzi's The Pink Tape, and Travis Scott's UTOPIA, respectively. A well-earned effort, Rod Wave's signature approach and sound are to credit for this high first-week projection. He caters to a niche audience -- people who enjoy singing pain music with heartfelt emotions over moody beats. But, Wave did get creative with his music and experimented with new sounds.
As previously reported, Rod Wave shared that the track "Crazy," which is featured on Nostalgia, includes sampled elements from Paramore's "Ain't It Fun." "So all my music, I try to just shed light on my background and what made me who I am, the reason I’m this kind of artist, the reason I’m who I am," Rod Wave shared during an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1's New Music Daily Radio show. "So I always try to just shed light on that. Just the way [Paramore’s Hayley Williams] painting a picture vividly gives you both sides of the good and the bad." Stay tuned for official first week numbers on HNHH.