King Kendrick rules the Billboard 200. The Compton rapper’s critically-acclaimed third major label studio album DAMN. tops the coveted chart in its first week of availability.
Official numbers won’t be in until Monday, but projections have now grown from the previous tally (480,000-510,000). According to HITS Daily Double, the final number will be a whopping 610,000 equivalent album units.
This astonishing figure doesn’t just make this Kung Fu Kenny’s largest week to date. It also marks the biggest debut of the year so far, surpassing Drake’s More Life, which sold an impressive 505,000 units in its opening week.
.@kendricklamar has officially scored the year’s biggest debut with 610k SPS: https://t.co/fjHfTyTTM5 #DAMN @Interscope pic.twitter.com/lZvRQsuXYQ
— HITS Daily Double (@HITSDD) April 21, 2017
Streaming has played an important role on the Billboard 200 all year and DAMN. is no exception. The TDE/Aftermath/Interscope project has reportedly racked up more than 60 percent of its sales from 300 million streams. Drake still holds the streaming title with more than 385 million streams that first week.
DAMN. isn’t the only K-Dot album set to reach the Top 40. good kid, m.A.A.d. city — released in 2012 — is now slated to appear at No. 28 with 14,000 units.
Recently, Man-Man broke down his latest LP. “It’s an album about my own self-discipline,” he told Beats 1. “That’s my favorite word this past year, discipline and obedience, and how to control your own emotions and how to even speak that truth on a record, to expose yourself even more, to have that closer connection with another human, and have them relate to it.”
