By reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week with We Still Don’t Trust You, Future and Metro Boomin have become the first collaborators in the chart’s nearly 68-year history to reach No. 1 with two joint projects. The rappers first topped the chart as collaborators three weeks ago with the initial We Don’t Trust You.
The term “collaborators” refers artists who don’t normally work together. We’re not counting collaborations by musicians who adopted a group name of their own (looking at you, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), a sure sign that they’re moving beyond a collab into group territory.
Two previous collaborations just missed landing two No. 1 albums. Diana Ross & the Supremes with The Temptations reached No. 1 on Feb. 8, 1969 with TCB, the soundtrack to their NBC-TV special. A studio album pairing the top vocal groups, Diana Ross & The Supremes Join The Temptations, had reached No. 2 four weeks earlier. It spawned their smash single “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.”
R. Kelly & Jay-Z reached No. 1 on Nov. 13, 2004 with Unfinished Business. An earlier collab, The Best of Both Worlds, had peaked at No. 2 on April 6, 2002.
Two other collaborations didn’t come quite that close to landing two No. 1 albums, but they landed one No. 1 and made the top 10 with a second project. 21 Savage and Metro Boomin topped the Billboard 200 on Oct. 17, 2020 with Savage Mode II. They had reached No. 4 on Nov. 18, 2017 with Without Warning, which featured a third collaborator, Offset.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga reached No. 1 on Oct. 11, 2014 with Cheek to Cheek. A sequel, Love for Sale, consisting entirely of songs by Cole Porter, reached No. 8 on Oct. 16, 2022. Both sets won Grammys for best traditional pop vocal album.
Future and Metro Boomin may have company as collaborators with multiple No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. As ¥$, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign topped the chart on Feb. 24 and March 2 with Vultures 1. A sequel, Vultures 2, is scheduled for release May 3, with a third volume, Vultures 3, due later in the year.
One final note: Though the year is still young, this is the first calendar year in which three collaborative albums have topped the Billboard 200. Already, 2024 tops 2004, when the aforementioned R. Kelly & Jay-Z collab Unfinished Business and a Jay-Z/Linkin Park collab, MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course both led the tally.