Which 1995 2Pac album became the first album by an incarcerated artist to debut at number one?

2Pac’s 1995 album Me Against the World became the first album by an incarcerated artist to debut at number one.

The album was released on March 14, 1995, while 2Pac was serving a prison sentence in New York after his 1994 sexual-abuse conviction. Despite his incarceration, the record opened at number one on the Billboard 200, giving him his first chart-topping album.

Me Against the World is notably introspective, addressing pressure, fear, family, poverty, mortality, and legal troubles. Its singles included “Dear Mama,” “So Many Tears,” and “Temptations,” helping it become one of 2Pac’s most acclaimed releases.

Listeners sometimes mix it up with All Eyez on Me, 2Pac’s later double album from 1996. That record was his first album released after prison, but Me Against the World holds the earlier incarceration-related chart distinction.