Lady Gaga has a clear path to debut at the top spot on next week’s Billboard 200. 

The pop superstar has been leading the field in terms of first-week sales projections and, in a batch of updated figures, it looks like she’s still charging forward as the leader of the pack. With a total of approximately 285,000 equivalent album units moved, she’s looking guaranteed for an easy route to the #1 spot. On top of all that, the majority of her numbers account for pure album sales.

As for hip-hop, we’re still represented well in the top-moving albums of the week. Several of the genre’s most popular characters, including Lil Baby, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Gunna, Post Malone, Drake, and DaBaby, are within or just outside of the Top 10 for this week’s biggest albums.

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Lil Yachty and Freddie Gibbs (with The Alchemist) came through with some booming new albums this week too, but neither of which is expected to debut within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. 

Lil Yachty’s Lil Boat 3 is currently anticipated to move up to 37,000 equivalent album units, making it good for a debut around #12. 

Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist are two spots down at #14, looking at up to 32,000 equivalent album units with the majority of them accounting for pure sales.

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Are you surprised by any of these numbers?

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Music fans are starting to think about how the Billboard Hot 100 will look in a week’s time when Tekashi 6ix9ine‘s “GOOBA” and Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande‘s “Stuck With U” both debut on the chart. However, there is also a fight happening on the Billboard 200 with three new projects looking to grab that top spot. 

Last week, we saw new albums from NAV (Good Intentions), Kehlani (It Was Good Until It Wasn’t), and Lil Durk (Just Cause Y’all Waited 2). All three had hoped to debut at the top spot but only one of them is looking to have a credible possibility of capturing that position.

According to Hits Daily Double, NAV is leading the way as far as new releases go. His album Good Intentions is poised to move approximately 70-75K equivalent album units. With the deluxe version arriving today, that number may even go up a touch. 

Kehlani is next in line, earning a strong first week with around 60-65K equivalent album units moved. 

Finally, Lil Durk ends up in third place, moving approximately 45-50K units. 

Of course, NAV may not end up debuting at the top spot on the Billboard 200. Drake‘s Dark Lane Demo Tapes previously peaked at #2 behind Kenny Chesney and there is a chance that his mixtape sells enough in its second week out for it to move up a spot.

Congratulations to all three debuting artists on the Billboard 200.

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For the second consecutive week, The Weeknd has been crowned atop the Billboard 200. 

The Toronto native recently released his new album After Hours, which opens the latest chapter in Abel Tesfaye’s creative career. With a highly-stylized theme and an overall aesthetic that kept us enthralled, the body of work has been successful for the XO Records honcho. With another 135,000 sales units counted in its second week out, After Hours was the most-consumed musical project of the week, clocking in ahead of the debuts.

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As reported by Hits Daily Double, 5 Seconds Of Summer and Lil Uzi Vert close out the top three spots, with Dua Lipa and Pearl Jam following closely behind. At the sixth position is PARTYNEXTDOOR, whose new project PARTYMOBILE sold approximately 52,000 equivalent album units. With features from Drake and Rihanna, would you consider that a win for the OVO Sound artist?

Lil Baby and Bad Bunny keep up their solid numbers before Joyner Lucas arrives at the ninth tally with around 38,000 sales on ADHD. After so much hype and so many delays, is that a good number for the lyricist?

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Some of the perpetual chart darlings, like Roddy Ricch and Post Malone, appear just after Joyner Lucas. 

What was your favorite new release of the week? Let us know in the comments.

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A few days ago, The Weeknd took to Instagram to flaunt some truly gargantuan Spotify streaming numbers, with the same mischievous pride reserved for kittens leaving bird carcasses on the stoop. Truly on his Dr. Evil, Weeknd had cause for celebration thanks to one billion streams on the digital streaming platform, the road to a platinum plaque all but cleared off traffic. Throw in some glowing critical acclaim and we’re looking at a massive opening week for his brand new album After Hours. 

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In fact, it’s one of the year’s best so far, beating out competition from Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Lil Uzi Vert. A report from Billboard cites Weeknd’s first week numbers looking like a total of up to 425,000 album-equivalent units, which would ultimately make After Hours the biggest release of his career. An impressive feat, and a testament to his enduring place in the modern musical landscape. Look for the final round-up to be unveiled on Billboard this Sunday, but don’t be surprised to see Weeknd sitting pretty come the release of the April 4th charts. 

This tally puts The Weeknd at the top of the pile, beating out both Lil Uzi Vert‘s Eternal Atake (288,000) and Eminem’s surprise album Music To Be Murdered By (282,000). A grand look for the Canadian singer, who continues to prove that artistry and originality can and will make it to the top. Have you been keeping that After Hours on rotation?

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Blueface released his debut studio album Find The Beat last week, and Rich The Kid dropped his latest Boss Man on the same day. Although both artists would normally have turned in solid numbers any other week, the day ended up being filled with high-profile drops. Lil Uzi Vert came through with the deluxe edition of Eternal Atake, Jay Electronica released a collaborative effort with Jay-Z, and Don Toliver finally unleashed his new project. With all of those taking precedence to fans, RTK and Blueface unfortunately suffered in their first weeks out.

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In the latest sales report showing the projections for next week's Billboard 200 chart, Blueface and Rich The Kid were not listed within the twenty highest-selling albums of the week. That was not a mistake. The two rappers are not currently on pace to move enough units of their respective albums to land in the Top 20 next week. Find The Beat and Boss Man are each expected to move approximately 15,000 to 20,000 equivalent album units. With the promotional measures that Blueface took, and the star-power Rich The Kid secured, neither has to be happy with these numbers.

Lil Uzi Vert will comfortably spend another week at the top spot of the Billboard 200, while Lil Baby will likely hit the second charting position. Don Toliver is expected to chart within the Top Ten.

Are you a fan of Blueface and Rich The Kid's new albums?

Megan the Stallion is coming off the release of her new project Suga, which saw a rocky and tumultuous rollout thanks to legal woes with her label who was trying to stop it. However thankfully, Megan was granted the release by a judge and ended up releasing Suga last Friday, featuring Kehlani and Gunna.

Now a week after being out, the first week sales numbers are in and they’re a tad lower than what some may expect. According to Hits Double Daily, Suga sold just under 44K units with 43,882 copies in its opening week. But then again, she didn’t have any label support or backing, and pretty much dropped it out of nowhere so it’s not that bad. In comparison though, Lil Uzi Vert landed himself the #1 album of the week with Eternal Atake, selling a whopping 310K units in his opening week.

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For what it’s worth, Megan made it clear that Suga wasn’t her debut album, but just something to give to her fans while she continues to work on her debut. “This is not even my album. This is what I had to put out right now so my fans can have music from me… I was literally putting together an album that was longer. These are songs that I started to record that were gonna make the album but I’m not done recording my album. I have a lot of experiences that I’m going through still, places I’m visiting. I’m just catching different vibes” she said about the project.

Granted he doesn’t feel the wrath of K-pop boy band BTS, Lil Baby is set to debut at the top of the Billboard 200 this week as his new album My Turn is racking up some very impressive numbers in its first week out, marking the highest numbers that the Atlanta rapper has ever seen.

Truly breaking out as a superstar in recent years, Lil Baby is finally seeing his strength translate into numbers with Hits Daily Double estimating a total of 170-190K equivalent album units moved for My Turn. Approximately 7,000 of those are from traditional sales, meaning the Atlanta artist totalled an insane amount of streams over the weekend. With features from Gunna, Future, Moneybagg Yo, Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug, and more, it was clear that My Turn would be the most consumed new hip-hop project of the week.

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Lil Baby will be up against Korean powerhouse BTS, who ruled the chart last week with a sky-high debut. He will also be competing against the new projects from G Herbo, Zaytoven, and more. 

It’s now Lil Baby’s turn to reach for the stars. In a recent interview, he spoke about beef and how he was asked to stage a feud with DaBaby over their similar names. It’s now apparent that he doesn’t need antics to succeed. What did you think of the album?

It was a good week in new music releases, which spanned across several genres with album drops from A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Justin Bieber, Tame Impala, $uicideboy$, and more all coming through with full-length bodies of work. With so much to divulge, fans were busy on their streaming service of choice hitting the replay button on their favorite offerings of the week and, today, a projection for who will score the highest-performing album from last week has been released.

Hits Daily Double rarely misses with this sort of information and, today, they’re reporting that Justin Bieber and his new album Changes will land on top of all other new releases in the upcoming sales race. Moving up to 320,000 equivalent album units (with the majority of which coming from merch bundles), Justin Bieber will comfortably debut at the top spot on the next chart, dethroning Roddy Ricch. The Compton product will probably find his way back there at some point in the near future, though.

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Following up Biebs will be A Boogie wit da Hoodie, who continues to prove why he’s one of the most highly-touted artists out of the Bronx right now. Up to 130,000 equivalent album units will be streamed of his Artist 2.0 display, which gives him the strongest rap debut of the week. $uicideboy$ are set for 21,000 units while, on another side of the spectrum, Tame Impala has the third-highest start with approximately 90,000 units moved.

Which album were you rocking with the most this weekend?

Moneybagg Yo continues to see his profile rise, working hard on the creative front to open eyes and project his brand to a wide array of potential newcomers. The Memphis rapper has been hustling for years, getting his sound right and telling tales from the streets. In recent months, his romantic life has been the subject of many gossip-y headlines but, at the center of it all, his music kept people interested in seeing what Bagg could accomplish next. Previously, he has achieved new heights with his 43VA Heartless project in 2019, moving 40K units in its first week out, but the buzzing artist is on pace to top himself by quite a large margin again after releasing his new project Time Served.