Doechii has hit a major career milestone as her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal breaks into the top 10 of Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for the first time. Since its release in August of 2024, the EP has skyrocketed from No. 24 to No. 9 on the chart dated Jan. 18, driven by 18,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. during the tracking week of Jan. 3-9, marking a 30% increase from the prior week, per data from Luminate.
Out of the 18,000 units, streaming played a huge role, contributing to 17,000 units, which translates to 22.8 million on-demand audio and video streams in the U.S. Traditional album sales account for nearly 1,000 units, with minimal input from track-equivalent sales.
Alligator Bites Never Heal initially debuted at No. 41 on the Sept. 14 edition of the chart but disappeared after one week. It resurfaced on the Dec. 21 chart following a surge in interest driven by standout performances on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and NPR’s Tiny Desk series, as well as a Genius collaboration featuring Issa Rae on “Denial Is a River”.
The mixtape also achieved new highs across other charts. Recently, it climbed from No. 20 to No. 8 on the Top Rap Albums chart, marking its first top 10 appearance there, and leaps from No. 69 to No. 33 on the all-genre Billboard 200, reaching a new peak position.
“Denial Is a River,” one of the mixtape’s standout tracks received high acclamation as it rose to No. 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in its third week. The track benefited from an impressive 77% increase in streaming activity, jumping to 8.1 million U.S. streams from the previous week’s 4.6 million.
This success ties the track as Doechii’s second-highest peak on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, matching her feature on Tyler, The Creator‘s Chromakopia track “Balloon,” which also reached No. 20 last November. Her highest position remains “What It Is (Block Boy)” featuring Kodak Black, which peaked at No. 8 in October of 2023.
