After nearly eight years of anticipation, A$AP Rocky has finally delivered Don’t Be Dumb—and despite some chatter around first-week sales, the album still debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Any noise surrounding the rollout didn’t seem to matter much to Rihanna, who proudly celebrated her partner’s chart-topping moment.
According to industry numbers, Don’t Be Dumb moved 123,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. While that figure fell short of early projections that once hinted at a 200,000-unit debut, it still exceeded Rocky’s revised estimates, which hovered around 119,000 earlier in the week. The initial higher projections were largely driven by vinyl preorders that ultimately didn’t ship in time to count toward the first-week total. Those sales are expected to be reflected in the coming weeks.
Even so, Rocky narrowly edged out strong competition. Both ENHYPEN and Bad Bunny reportedly finished close behind, each pulling in around 121,000 units.
Rihanna took to Twitter/X to make her excitement loud and clear, celebrating Rocky’s achievement with an all-caps message letting fans know her “baby daddy” secured the No. 1 album. Given recent online debates involving Rocky, Rihanna, and Drake, the moment felt especially satisfying to fans who’ve been rooting for the Harlem rapper’s comeback.
https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/
Breaking down the numbers further, streaming accounted for the bulk of the album’s performance. About 76,000 units came from streaming, driven by roughly 78 million on-demand streams—Rocky’s biggest streaming week to date. Traditional album sales, including vinyl and other physical formats, made up the remaining 47,000 units.
The rollout for Don’t Be Dumb was extensive, featuring standard 15-track versions across vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital platforms. Fans also had access to deluxe box sets with merchandise, numerous vinyl variants, and expanded digital and streaming editions that added bonus tracks after release. Among the additional songs were “I Smoked Away My Brain (I’m God x Demons),” a mashup with Clams Casino and Imogen Heap, as well as “FLACKITO JOYDE” featuring Tokischa.
All things considered, it’s a win worth celebrating. After such a long wait, Don’t Be Dumb has officially arrived at the top—and with talk of a Disc 2 already circulating, Rocky’s moment might just be getting started.
