On August 24, 2020, it was announced that Nigerian singer, Burna Boy's new album, 'Twice As Tall' had debuted at No. 54 on the Billboard 200 charts for the week ending August 21, 2020.
With it, Burna Boy created a new peak for Nigerian artists on the same charts. However, on September 6, 2021, Wizkid's 'Made In Lagos' overhauled all before it and charted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200.
This then got Pulse Nigeria asking; what are the other Nigerian albums to have charted on the Billboard 200? We were able to find five and here they are;
7.) Davido - A Better Time
Year of release: 2020
Label: Columbia Records/Sony
Weeks on the chart: 1
Peak: 170 [November 27, 2020]
A sequel to Davido's A Good Time, A Better Time followed a year of heavyweight album releases by Nigerian superstars and it entered the charts. It also became Davido's only appearance on the chart.
6.) Sunny Ade - Juju Music
Year of release: 1982
Label: Mango/Island Records
Weeks on the chart: 29
Peak: 111 [September 17, 1983]
When the album was released, it was described by The New York Times as the week's best new dance music. At the time, Sunny Ade was two years away from being touted to be the replacement for Bob Marley.
5.) WIzkid - Sounds From The Other Side
Year of release: 2017
Label: Starboy/RCA UK
Weeks on the chart: 1
Peak: 107 [August 5, 2017]
Wizkid's crossover had been given a massive jolt by his production, writing and feature credits of Drake's 2016 No. 1 single, 'One Dance.' Thus Wizkid immediately followed it up with an album that was called an EP at the time. The crossover didn't quite pan out as we'd hoped but we will always have this moment.
4.) Burna Boy - African Giant
Year of release: 2019
Label: Spaceship/Bad Habit/Atlantic/Warner
Weeks on the chart: 1
Peak position: 104 [August 10, 2019]
In 2019, Burna Boy quickly followed his well-received Outside album with African Giant - named after his infamous rant at the organizers of Coachella. The Grammy-nominated album was celebrated as a refreshing development from Africa.
3.) King Sunny Ade - Syncro System
Year of release: 1983
Label: Mango/Island Records
Weeks on the chart: 7
Peak position: 91 [September 24, 1983]
In the week of September 3, 1983, the Billboard 200 charts was topped by Synchrocity - an album by The Police. A band that would soon be joined by British singer, Sting. At No. 2 was Thriller by Michael Jackson. Then, a little known Nigerian known as King Sunny Ade saw his album, Synchro System climb 30 places from No. 139 to No. 109 on the charts.
That same week, his other album, Juju Music was at No. 116 on the charts. The next week, the album then climbed another nine places to chart at No. 98 on the Billboard 200 - then known as Billboard Pop Charts. Juju Music climbed to No. 113 that same week too. The next week, Synchro System charted at No. 93 and then the next week, it peaked at No. 91.
2.) Burna Boy - Twice As Tall
Year of release: 2020
Label: Spaceship/Bad Habit/Atlantic/Warner
Weeks on the chart: 1
Peak position: 54 [August 24, 2020]
On August 14, 2020, Nigerian singer, Burna Boy released his album, Twice As Tall. In its first week, the album became the first Nigerian album to have one million pure YouTube streams from Nigeria. It also debuted on the UK albums chart at 11, France at 29 and The Netherlands at 10.
But the biggest coup of all was charting at No. 54. A new record for Nigerian albums.
1.) Wizkid - Made In Lagos
Year of release: 2020/2021
Label: RCA/SONY
Weeks on the chart: 10.
Peak position: 28 [September 6, 2021]
With this new peak, 'Made In Lagos' becomes Nigeria's highest charting album on the Billboard 200, surpassing Burna Boy's Twice As Tall, which peaked at No. 54. Last week, 'Made In Lagos' peaked at No. 58. When the album dropped in October 2020, 'Made In Lagos' peaked at No. 80.
In a review of 'Made In Lagos (Deluxe),' Pulse Nigeria noted that, "Made In Lagos’ has risen to No. 58 on the Billboard 200. The highest chart position for a Nigerian album on the chart is No. 54, by Burna Boy’s ‘Twice As Tall.’ With a deluxe version and surging success of ‘Essence,’ ‘Made In Lagos’ could rise even further on the charts."
Also noteworthy...
Asa's 2007 debut album, Asha peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard Heatseeker's charts.