The first week sales projections for Eminem's ninth studio album, Revival, are in. According to Hits Daily Double, Em's new project is expected to move between 280,000 and 300,000 equivalent album units, with 190,000 to 210,000 of that figure coming through in pure sales. In 2013, the rapper released his previous album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 to the tune of 792,000 pure sales first week.
Of course, Revival is not the only major release this week. HDD's report also indicates that G-Eazy's The Beautiful & Damned is expected to move between 135,000 and 155,000 equivalent album units, while Jeezy's Pressure is projected to do 55,000 to 65,000. N.E.R.D.'s No_One Ever Really Dies is set to launch between 16,000 and 21,000.
Eminem will likely debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, which will make Revival his 8th consecutive album to do so. His only album to miss that mark was his major label debut The Slim Shady LP, which debuted at No. 2 in 1999. In 2010, Eminem's Recovery sold 741,000 in its first week. 2009's Relapse sold 608,000 first week. In 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP became the fastest-selling studio album by any solo artist in American music at the time, moving 1.78 million copies in its first week.
In a recent interview with Shade 45, Eminem was asked where he ranks Revival in his catalogue. “I try not to look at it that way, because I know that, in hindsight, looking back at albums like Relapse and Encore, I do feel like I could have did better," he said. "But I realize at the time, thinking back to it, that was the absolute best I could do at that point in time. I think I said this in a line before, ‘Encore’ I was on drugs, and ‘Relapse’ I was flushing them out. I was learning to rap again, basically. But every album, I always try to put my best foot forward, so hopefully that’s what I did."
Official sales numbers for Revival will be released by Billboard in just over a week's time. Stream the album in full here.