Stick Figure’s ‘Wisdom’ First Album To Debut No. 1 On Billboard Reggae Chart In Over Two Years
Stick Figure’s seventh studio album Wisdom is the first Reggae project to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in over two years.
It replaces Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Legend, which has dropped to No. 2 after holding onto the No. 1 spot for 140 consecutive weeks. Though it was first released in 1984, Legend had entered the Reggae Albums chart dated January 18, 2020, for the first time—following a Billboard rule change.
As DancehallMag first reported yesterday, Wisdom sold 13,900 units from sales and streaming in the United States during its first week of release on September 9 via Ruffwood Records. This includes 9,700 copies in pure album sales, and 5.5 million from streaming in the US, according to Billboard’s sales tracker Luminate. With its pre-released tracks, the album has so far sold 34,900 units in total (including 32.3 million streams), over its lifetime.
The American Reggae band’s current line-up features Scott Woodruff on guitar and vocals, Kevin Bong (KBong) on keyboards, Kevin Offitzer on drums, bassist Tommy Suliman, John Gray (Johnny Cosmic) on guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals, and Will Phillips on percussion. This is their fourth No. 1 Reggae album, following Burial Ground (2012), Set In Stone (2015), and World On Fire (2019), which had all topped the Reggae Chart.
The band was founded in 2006 by Woodruff, who spoke with the Jamaica Gleaner, in a 2019 interview, about his reggae music inspiration.
“My older brother, who is very passionate about music, was always playing reggae music around the house … like Bob Marley, Half Pint, Peter Tosh, Barrington Levy. That’s what inspired me to play reggae music. Reggae was just what we listened to,” Woodruff said.
“It was just what I loved to do. Once I started making music, it was just a hobby. I always thought I’d probably have a job and music would just be something that is part of my life, but it turned into what I did every day, and I became fortunate enough to make a career out of it,” he added.
Wisdom has also debuted at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 chart—a weekly listing that ranks the most popular albums and EPs in the US across all genres.
Marley’s Legend is currently at No. 123 on the Billboard 200.
On the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, which ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales, Wisdom is No. 7 with its 9,700 copies sold.
Legend is at No. 62 on that Sales chart.
Wisdom has also entered the Billboard Independent Albums chart at No. 6, while the band Stick Figure has entered the Billboard Artists 100 chart at No. 43.
Meanwhile, back on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart this week, Shaggy’s Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection is at No. 3, followed by UB40’s Greatest Hits at No. 4.
Stick Figure’s World On Fire and Set In Stone albums are at No. 5 and 7, respectively.
Sean Paul’s Dutty Classics Collection and Dutty Rock album are at No. 6 and 8, respectively.
Koffee’s Gifted remains on the Chart at No. 9, followed by Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Gold album at No. 10.