Rod Wave Lands Fourth No. 1 Album With 'Don't Look Down' on the Billboard 200
Rod Wave's seventh studio album, Don't Look Down, has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated 12 September 2026, giving the Florida rapper-singer his fourth chart-topping record. The set earned 99,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending 3 September, according to Luminate, the data firm that powers Billboard's charts (Billboard). Equivalent album units combine traditional album sales with streaming and track-download activity, converting plays into a single sales figure.
Streaming carried the weight. Of those 99,000 units, 90,000 came from streaming equivalent album units — the measure that converts plays into album sales — translating to 95.07 million on-demand official streams and a simultaneous No. 1 debut on the Top Streaming Albums chart. Album sales accounted for the remaining 9,000, enough for a No. 13 placing on Top Album Sales. Track equivalent units, which count individual song downloads, were negligible.
Don't Look Down arrived in multiple configurations: a 20-track standard edition on CD and vinyl, and an expanded 24-track digital download and streaming edition. The physical rollout included six vinyl variants (two signed) and two CD variants (one signed) — a common strategy for maximising first-week sales among dedicated fans who buy multiple copies.
Three singles paved the way. 'Hustle' reached No. 13 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in August, 'Piece of Your Love' hit No. 24 in July, and 'Feed the Streets' peaked at No. 33 in February. The album is Rod Wave's eighth top 10 project on the Billboard 200, meaning every charted release of his career has landed in the upper tier — a run that began with Ghetto Gospel peaking at No. 10 in November 2019.
His previous No. 1 albums are Nostalgia (2023), Beautiful Mind (2022) and SoulFly (2021). Don't Look Down arrives just under two years after Last Lap, which debuted at No. 2 in October 2024.
Behind Rod Wave, Alex Warren's WILDCHILD entered at No. 2 with 75,000 equivalent album units — his highest-charting set and second top 10, following You'll Be Alright, Kid, which peaked at No. 5 in August 2025. Where Rod Wave's opening was streaming-dominated, Warren's was sale-driven: 55,000 of his 75,000 units came from album sales, debuting at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, boosted by 13 vinyl variants (two signed), five CD variants (two signed), three download editions and a cassette. A further 20,000 units came from streaming — 20.74 million on-demand official streams — placing him at No. 25 on Top Streaming Albums.
Warren's album was preceded by three Billboard Hot 100 entries: 'Passenger' (No. 100 in June), 'Fine Place To Die' (No. 87 in May) and 'Fever Dream' (No. 21 in March).
Ella Langley's Dandelion slipped from No. 2 to No. 3 with a little more than 67,000 units, down 3% from the previous week. The full Billboard 200 chart for the 12 September dated week is scheduled to be posted on Billboard's website on 9 September, a day later than usual due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. on 7 September.
Two albums, two paths to the top of the chart. Rod Wave got there on 95 million streams; Warren got within reach on signed vinyl and CDs.
