We expected The Weeknd's new album, Starboy, to have a big first week. The titular single, released in September, sits at No. 3 in the country, and a few more tracks ("Party Monster," "Sidewalks," "I Feel It Coming") off the album could easily do imminent damage on the charts. It will take the No. 1 spot by a long shot when it debuts, as according to HDD's forecast, Starboy will sell 350-400K in equivalent albums (including streaming) in its first week. For traditional album sales, the predictions are 225-275K. Accordingly, the album is expected to debut with massive streaming numbers, with reports of considerable streaming success on Spotify's songs chart.
Starboy, The Weeknd's third album released through XO and Republic, is the follow-up to last year's Beauty Behind the Madness, which made a No. 1 debut with 412,000 equivalent album units. Thus, Starboy's first-week sales may not eclipse those numbers, but the album will become The Weeknd's second straight chart-topper, and it still looks to achieve one of the year's best first-week performances. How do you think it compares to his past work? Stay tuned for the HNHH review.