Kanye West, J. Cole, and Mac Miller are all gearing up to release new albums next Tuesday, and as of today all three projects have leaked. The availability of the music only furthers the anticipation for next week, as we predict how much each artist will sell.
While still a fairly premature projection, Billboard has forecast the numbers we can expect for next week. While most of the talk has surrounded the competition between Cole & Yeezy (much to Mac's dismay), it seems that 'Ye will pull well ahead of both of the rappers, despite having next to no conventional promotion.
Industry sources have reported to Billboard that Watching Movies With The Sound Off is expected to move close to 100,000 units, while Born Sinner will sell somewhere between 150-200,000, and Yeezus may go on to break the 500,000 mark first week.
If both Yeezy and Cole sell over 100k -- which seems fairly certain -- next week will mark the first time two hip hop albums have debuted with over 100k since 2010, with Kanye's own MBDTF, and Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday each breaking 300,000 in sales.
The off chance that Miller breaks the 100k mark as well will see next week as the first time since 2006 three rap albums have broken six figures in 7 days. Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (680,000), Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (264,000) and 2Pac's Pac's Life (159,000) was the last time we saw that happen.
Of course, we'll have a better idea of the numbers when the albums ACTUALLY drop.
[Update: More Accurate Numbers Revealed]
The albums have finally dropped, and we thus have a more accurate idea of what things will look like at the end of the week. While the order is still consistent with initial reports, things may be a bit closer between Cole and Kanye than we first thought. Take a look at the report below, which also includes a respectable projection for Kelly Rowland.
Kanye West: Yeezus 375-400k
J. Cole: Born Sinner 290-315k
Mac Miller: Watching Movies With The Sound Off 95-105k
Kelly Rowland: Talk A Good Game 60-65k
[via]