Blockbuster

## Singles from album

1. "Little More Love" (Released 14 April 2024)
2. "Dinner Guest" (Released 30 September 2024)

3. "West Ten" (Released 2 January 2025)

4. "Anxious" (Released 4 April 2025)

**"Blockbuster"** is the debut studio album by Australian rapper AJ. It was released through Elefant Traks on 16 April 2025. The album features guest appearances from NAV, Youngn Lipz, T-Pain, EUCA & Mahalia. The production is handled by AJ, Flume, Nyge, Fumez The Engineer, The Elements and AOD.

## Background

In an interview with *NME*, AJ explained what the album is focused on:

"Currently, my life feels as though I'm living through a movie, you know. None of this feels real, this wasn't even the plan to begin with. I wanted to be an electrician but obviously that didn't happen. From just making one song with the help of my friends for the fun of it, it has put in a position in life where I feel like I'm living a blockbuster lifestyle. A lifestyle that began by pure chance but transformed into something that I needed to work hard to maintain. In my eyes, it's the perfect idea for a movie. I might even write a movie about my life someday.

AJ also praised Canadian rapper Nav, who is featured on the second track of the album, "Kukoč", admitting that he has been a long time fan of his music and described him as "dope", further explaining that "the fact that he's of [South] Asian descent... he's carved out that path and no one before him has really set the precedent for someone from his background". He also thought that he can get a little more "vulnerable" on the album and said that listeners would receive "more of an in-depth insight" of his life.

## Singles and promotion

AJ released the lead single of the album, "Little More Love", on 15 April 2024. The second single, "Dinner Guest", which featured fellow Australian rapper Youngn Lipz, was released on September 30th, 2024. "West Ten", a collaboration with Australian singer-songwriter EUCA, AJ's own cousin, was released on 2 January 2025. The fourth and final single, "Anxious", was released on 4 April 2021.

On 22 March 2021, AJ posted to social media announcing the album and its complete track list.

## Commercial performance

*Blockbuster* debuted at number one on the ARIA and RMNZ Album charts, number five on the IRMA Album chart and number twelve on the UK Albums chart.

## Critical reception

 AnyDecentMusic?
 Metacritic
 Source
 *The Observer* | 6/10

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, indicating "universal acclaim".

Kate Solomon of *INews* opined the album as "fiery" and claimed that it was "laden with blockbuster references" and figuratively described AJ's goal and intentions for the album, stating that he would "overcome any obstacle, to succeed and find a happy ending". Writing for *NME*, Dhruva Balram felt that *Blockbuster* strengthens AJ's experimentation with different genres of music, calling him "one of the artists soaring above the rest of the world".

The reviews mainly focused on Tracey's versatility on the album, such as using alternative R&B on some songs.

## Charts

 Denmark Albums (IFPI)
 Norway Albums (IFPI)
 Irish Albums (OCC)
 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
 Scottish Albums (OCC)
 Germany Albums (BVMI)
 UK Albums (OCC)

## Certifications

 Denmark (IFPI)
 Ireland (IRMA)
 New Zealand (RMNZ)
 United Kingdom (BPI)