Kendrick Lamar‘s new album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ has hit the top spot in the US Billboard album charts, with the biggest first-week sales in 2022 so far.

The album was released on May 13, and narrowly missed out on the UK Number One album to Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Dance Fever’ after a heated chart battle.

In the US, ‘Mr. Morale…’ became Lamar’s fourth album to hit Number One on the Billboard 200, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year so far.

According to Billboard, the album breaks a record set only the previous week by Bad Bunny‘s new album ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’.

‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ sold 295,500 equivalent album units across its first week.

In a five-star review, NME called ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ a “cathartic, soul-baring autobiography” that “serves up vignettes about what it’s like to be a Black adult whose trauma still haunts them”.

“In laying his soul bare, he hopes we realise how we can set ourselves free from generational curses too. This album is as much about struggle as it is freedom, and what a beautiful sentiment that is.”

It also struck a chord with Eminem, who called it  f****** ridiculous” and said it left him “speechless”.

Later this year, Lamar will tour the world on ‘The Big Steppers’ tour. The jaunt will kick off with a raft of dates in the US on July 19 before reaching European and UK shores in October and November, which include two shows at The O2 in London on November 7-8.

Tickets to the UK and European dates are available here, while you can purchase tickets for the US dates here. See the full list of dates below.

JULY 
19 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
22 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
23 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
24 – Miami, FL – Rolling Loud
27 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
29 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
30 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
31 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

AUGUST
2 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
4 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
5 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
6 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
7 – Long Island, NY – UBS Arena
9 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
12 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
13 – Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
14 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
16 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
18 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
19 – Chicago, IL  – United Center
20 – Minneapolis, MN – Xcel Energy Center
21 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
23 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
24 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Smart Home Arena
26 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
27 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
28 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
30 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
31 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena

SEPTEMBER
1 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
6 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena at San Diego State University
7 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
9 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
10 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
14 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
15 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

OCTOBER
7 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
10 – Prague, CZ – O2 Arena
11 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena
13 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
15 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
17 – Stockholm, SE – Avicii Arena
19 – Oslo, NO – Telenor Arena
21 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
24 – Stuttgart, DE – Scheleyerhalle
25 – Zurich, CH – Hallenstadion
26 – Laussane, CH – Vaudoise Aréna
28 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
30 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
31 – Frankfurt, DE – Festhalle

NOVEMBER
2 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
3 – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena
4 – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena
5 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
7 – London, UK – The O2
8 – London, UK – The O2
13 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena
16 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena

DECEMBER
1 – Perth, AUS – RAC Arena
4 – Melbourne, AUS – Rod Laver Arena
8 – Sydney, AUS – Qudos Bank Arena
12 – Brisbane, AUS – Entertainment Center
16 – Auckland, NZ  – Spark Arena