Cordae & Anderson .Paak Land Top 10 HITS Debut With Heavy Is The Crown

Cordae and Anderson .Paak took their first joint album into the Top 10, with Heavy Is The Crown entering at No. 10 on the HITS Top 50 dated October 30.

The project posted 30,290 in activity on the finalized HITS Daily Double chart. HITS called it the week’s biggest debut.

HITS listed activity without a breakdown of sales and streaming. The figure was not a pure album-sales total, and the No. 10 placement was on HITS’ chart, rather than the Billboard 200.

Heavy Is The Crown arrived October 23 through APESHIT, Mass Appeal, Hi Level and EMPIRE. The 11-track project ran about 31 minutes.

There were no featured artists. The outside help came behind the boards, with J. Cole, Swizz Beatz, 9th Wonder, FNZ and Hollywood Cole among the producers who contributed to the record. The album opened with “58th Floor” and included “Airbender,” “I’m On” and lead single “A Good Day.”

.Paak appeared on “RNP” from Cordae’s 2019 debut The Lost Boy, their first collaboration. They reunited on 2024’s “Summer Drop” before making the move from individual songs to an entire project. Cordae’s previous solo album, The Crossroads, also came out in 2024.

The album’s cover drew on “Step Brothers,” the 2008 comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. The playful artwork accompanied an album that also dealt with more personal subjects.

As AllHipHop previously reported, “Helpless” turned to Cordae’s regrets about a relationship and raising his daughter in separate homes.

The release also followed a dispute over who could put out Cordae’s music. AllHipHop reported that MMMG’s October 15 complaint named Cordae and three companies: EMPIRE, Apeshit and Mass Appeal. In the label’s account, a recording agreement signed in 2018 still restricted his ability to issue music elsewhere. MMMG sought court action in New York to stop recordings it claimed control over.

The complaint also targeted “A Good Day,” the single and video released September 16 as part of the album’s rollout.

At issue was how a change of distributor affected the deal. MMMG contended that signing with Stem in 2025 preserved its rights under Cordae’s contract. His attorneys challenged whether that arrangement satisfied the contract, according to the label’s account in the complaint.