When it comes to Young Thug, there’s always something to look forward to. His characteristic melodies, eccentric rap skills, and endlessly-inventive creative visions (down to his fashion, which has always teetered the line between unconventional and downright avant-garde) have cast Thugger’s undoubted influence on music since he first broke out in the early 2010s. On October 15th, Thug dropped PUNK, his second studio album to date, where he continues to follow his unrestrainedly experimental intuition by getting even more honest in his lyrics, stepping into his role as storyteller.
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It’s been a week since the album has been released, and according to HitsDailyDouble, PUNK will officially dethrone Drake’s Certified Lover Boy as the highest-selling album of the week. PUNK moved 90,346 album-equivalent units in its first week, outselling CLB by about 7,000 album-equivalent units. The two projects have been battling it out for the top spot on the Billboard 200. One day after PUNK’s release, HitsDailyDouble projected that Thug’s new album would move 85,000 to 95,000 units in total activity, with 2,000 to 5,000 expected to be derived from pure sales.
Though CLB has been at the top of the charts for weeks now, leading the HITS Top 50 for four consecutive weeks before it was moved down to No. 2 after PUNK dropped, Young Thug's numbers and overall performance come as no surprise. His feature on CLB’s “Way 2 Sexy” continues to be a fan favorite.
Listen to PUNK's first track, “Die Slow” feat. Strick, below.