So far this year, the top slot on the Billboard 200 albums chart has had a distinctly Disney flair, as the soundtrack to Encanto has reigned for eight straight weeks. But that was until Lil Durk came along. This week, Durk’s 7220 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, unseating Encanto and racking up 120,500 equivalent album units, the third-biggest week of 2022 so far. It’s Durk’s second No. 1 album and first as a solo artist, after his joint LP with Lil Baby The Voice of the Heroes reached the top spot last year.
It also is a capstone to a career resurgence for Durk, who emerged from the Chicago drill scene a decade ago and released his first two albums, Remember My Name and Lil Durk 2X, through Def Jam in the middle of the last decade. In 2018 he signed with Alamo Records, the new label founded by veteran music executive Todd Moscowitz, and in the past two years his career has taken off: since 2020, Durk has racked up 67 entries on the Hot 100 chart, including two top 10 collaborations with Drake, “Laugh Now Cry Later” and “In the Bible.” And with the huge turnaround culminating in this week’s No. 1 album, Alamo executive vp/general manager Tiara Hargrave earns the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Hargrave discusses the success of Durk’s album, his career resurgence and Alamo’s plans for the next year, which includes “Breaking our next tier of artists,” she says. “Alamo is deeply invested in building artists and their careers and making sure they are impacting the sound of rap as they expand to new heights.”
Lil Durk’s 7220 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week, his second No. 1 album and first as a solo artist. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
Durk was really the driving force behind the rollout. As partners, Alamo and Durk’s team worked collectively together to amplify his vision. Overall, the key decision or goal was to ensure that both tastemakers and fans understood this project was Durk’s transformation from rapper to superstar.
Durk’s first week is the third-biggest week for an album in 2022, behind only Gunna and The Weeknd. What strategies did you use to help it achieve such a huge debut?
For us, it was key we activate Durk’s core fan base and make sure they felt as if they were a part of this moment. This is Durk’s most personal album to date and he displayed that no matter what hardships he experienced, he was committed to making great music and using that to fuel his creativity. While timing, taste and tone are a key factor in the success of any No. 1 album, ultimately fans will always connect most to authenticity and relatable emotions and stories.
This milestone comes after a year in which Durk racked up three dozen Hot 100 hits in 2021. How did you help him emerge as such a fixture on the mainstream charts?
Tenacity and consistency are what separates stars from superstars. Our job is to place Durk at the forefront of all major events and happenings within music so it is consumed by all his targets. Alamo is an artist-friendly label and our objective is to collaborate with them to ensure that they are growing and impacting culture and music.
The album racked up 117,000 equivalent album units from streaming alone. How were you able to market Durk’s music on streaming and social media platforms to get such a huge response?
Durk is an authentic artist and his fans love and respect him for that. It’s not just about blasting messages and seeding campaigns anymore. We work with Durk’s authenticity to go where the real fans are and gain their respect. It’s about the music first, and combining all other efforts from streaming, ads, TV and even Durk’s tour to help galvanize a huge response.
This is Alamo’s first No. 1 album since moving to Sony last year. Has anything changed in moving from one major to another?
Change is inevitable and the changes over the last year only made Alamo stronger. Sony has a winning culture that has always been a part of Alamo’s DNA. Our main goal still remains the same — to shift and influence the industry landscape.
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