The Sideline Story was supported by four singles: the first being “Work Out” in June 2011, which initially charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 2011 at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with a total of 218,000 copies in its first release, and was certified gold by the RIAA in December of the same year then platinum almost five years later in February 2016. It garnered him his first GRAMMY nomination (Best New Artist in 2012) and just like most of his future albums, the project was mainly produced by Cole but did hear additions from the likes of No I.D., Brian Kidd and Elite, and featured guest appearances from from Trey Songz, Drake, JAY-Z and Missy Elliott. The Sideline Story marks the beginning of the whole shebang, with Cole dropping the record on September 2011 following mixtapes The Come Up in 2007, The Warm Up in 2009 and Friday Night Lights in 2011. To celebrate the Dreamville head’s record-setting feat, HYPEBEAST scoured the Billboard archives and the official RIAA records to break down Cole’s solo journey to the top, taking note of the numbers and eventual achievements that pushed all his solo studio albums to the top of the charts.

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