Doechii’s ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ Enters Top 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart

Doechii checks off a career milestone in early 2025 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as her Alligator Bites Never Heal mixtape becomes her first top 10 project. The set leaps 24-9 on the list dated Jan. 18 with 18,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the tracking week of Jan. 3-9, a 30% gain from the prior week, according to Luminate.

Of the 18,000 units for the week, streaming contributes 17,000 units, a figure equal to 22.8 million official U.S. on-demand audio and video streams. The remaining 1,000 units are nearly all from traditional album sales, with a negligible number of track-equivalent units.

Alligator Bites Never Heal, issued on Top Dawg/Capitol/ICLG, was released in late August and debuted at No. 41 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums on the list dated Sept. 14. It departed the ranking after that sole week, but returned to the chart dated Dec. 21 following growing attention to Doechii’s catalog after well-received performances on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (Dec. 5) and NPR’s Tiny Desk series (Dec. 6) and a Genius recording of a joint version of the mixtape’s “Denial Is a River,” with Issa Rae (Dec. 19).

Elsewhere, Alligator Bites Never Heal races 20-8 on the Top Rap Albums chart for its first time in the top 10 and powers 69-33 on the all-genre Billboard 200 to snatch a new peak.

“Denial Is a River” achieves new success, too, soaring 33-20 in its third week on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Increased streaming activity is the primary driver, as the single earned 8.1 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week, a 77% surge from the previous week’s 4.6 million count.

With the new gains, Doechii ties for her second-highest peak on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. She featured on Tyler, The Creator’s Chromakopia cut “Balloon,” which peaked at No. 20 last November. “What It Is (Block Boy),” featuring Kodak Black, reached a No. 8 best in October 2023.

“Denial Is a River” also climbs 20-17 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and debuts at No. 76 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. It becomes Doechii’s third charting title on the latter, flagship list, after “What It Is (Block Boy)” and “Balloon” scored No. 29 and No. 56 peaks, respectively.