Rod Wave’s ‘Nostalgia’ On Track To Debut At No. 1, Hip-Hop’s 3rd Best Debut Of Year

Rod Wave released his fifth studio album, Nostalgia, on Friday, and the project is already projected to top the charts ahead of other artists’ releases, such as Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts.

The rapper’s album is projected to sell between 130,000 and 140,000 copies this week, according to HITS Daily Double. This would make him the third-biggest rap debut of the year.

The popularity of the release would be the biggest sales debut of his career. Rod Wave has had two albums go No. 1 in the past with Soulfly and A Beautiful Mind, according to Complex.

This new project features 19 tracks and includes features from artists such as 21 Savage. Back in March, Rod Wave had started releasing singles prior to the official album release, such as “Fight the Feeling,” “Call Your Friends,” “Come See Me” and “Boyz Don’t Cry.”

“I feel like on this album, I was able to spread my emotions around, and I have more time just to touch bases on different kind of points of views on different subjects,” he told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, according to Hypebeast. “I turn it to a butterfly. I’m full-grown on this one… I remember once upon a time, it was crazy for me to be saying, I’m going to be a rapper, and this why I’m investing all my time and all my money and all my whole life into losing relationships and just a lot of stuff.”

The artist will also be embarking on his Nostalgia Tour to support the album. It will kick off on Oct. 19 and conclude on Dec. 18 and make 30 stops in cities across the country. Rod Wave will be joined by special guests such as Ari Lennox, Toosii, G Herbo and Eelmatic.