Rod Wave appears to be the first Saint Petersburg native to have the country’s No. 1 album. Soulfly is set to displace Justin Bieber Justice first place on the Billboard 200 this week, according to Advertising panel.
The 21-year-old singer and rapper’s third studio album, whose real name is Rodarius Green, was released on March 26. Green studied at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg.
Last week, Rod Wave had two singles from Soulfly on the Billboard Hot 100, Street Runner (No. 32) and Tombstone (No. 82). Apple Music has classified these tracks as the 2nd and 3rd most played in the country today.
Rod Wave’s second album, Pray 4 love, reached the second position on the Billboard 200 in 2020, and its first, Ghetto Gospel, reached number 10 in 2019.
Green started his music career when he was still in high school. In 2020, he said Advertising panel that he struggled to find out what he wanted to do before music came into his life.
He also recounted the details of his first live performance, saying “it was at a strip club on a school night. I had a show, $ 500. … It was 20 minutes from my city, so there were a lot of people from my city there. And they were just singing, word for word. After that, he booked me every week. “
There is another connection to St. Petersburg. Tre Gilliam, a former basketball highlight at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, has producer credit on the track Moving from Soulfly.
Gilliam, who was recruited to play basketball in college before an injury that ended his career, previously produced Rod Wave certified gold singles Pray 4 love and Cuban Links.