first week sales

Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” Headed For No. 1 Debut: First Week Sales Projections

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Beyonce’s new album, Cowboy Carter, is expected to move 350k copies in its first week according to a new report from Hits Daily Double. Additionally, the project already amassed 76 million streams in its first day available on Spotify. The figure is likely enough for it to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Beyonce dropped Cowboy Carter on Friday after promoting it with two singles back in February, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” Cowboy Carter is the second in a trilogy of albums Beyonce began working on during the COVID-19 pandemic. She first released Renaissance back in August 2022. At that time, it debuted with 332k sales. The new 27-track effort features collaborations with a number of artists including Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Rhiannon Giddens, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, Raye, and Jon Batiste. Country legends Dolly Parton, Linda Martell, and Willie Nelson also serve as DJs.

Read More: Erykah Badu Changes Her Tune On Beyonce’s “COWBOY CARTER”: “GET EM”

Beyonce & JAY-Z Attend Grammy Awards

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Beyoncé and Jay-Z attend the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Miley Cyrus celebrated the release of the project in a post on Instagram, earlier this week. “II Most Wanted is out now on the new @Beyonce album #CowboyCarter,” she wrote. “I’ve loved Beyonce since long before I had the opportunity to meet & work with her. My admiration runs so much deeper now that I’ve created along side of her. Thank you Beyonce. You’re everything & more. Love you. To everyone who spent time making this song so special thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sincerely, Miley.” Post Malone, who appears on the song, “LEVII’S JEANS,” wrote in his own post: “thank you [Beyoncé]. congrats this album is beautiful.”

Beyonce Promotes “Cowboy Carter”

 
 
 
 
 
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Check out our review of Cowboy Carter here and be on the lookout for further updates on Beyonce on HotNewHipHop.

Read More: Beyonce, Shaboozey, & Pharrell Williams Team Up For A Wild, Multi-Layered Cut “SWEET HONEY BUCKIIN’”

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Meek Mill’s “Heathenism” First-Week Sales Get Him Ripped Apart By Critics

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It’s been an undoubtedly challenging few weeks for Meek Mill, and it looks like the Philly-born performer simply cannot catch a break. At the end of February, rumors that he was named in Diddy’s latest lawsuit and slept with the Bad Boy Records founder ran wild. Despite having denied these allegations on various occasions, social media users continue to speculate. Amid chatter surrounding that whole debacle, Meek wrecked his brand-new car. Luckily, he seems to have been uninjured in the crash, though he admits it knocked him out.

Things appeared to be looking up for the rapper when he announced and later unleashed his new EP Heathenism last week. While it’s been met with praise from countless fans since its release, critics continue to knock him online. This has only been compounded since the project’s first-week sales were announced earlier today.

Read More: Meek Mill Wants To Help The Mayor Of Philly Fight Gun Violence After Shooting

Meek Mill’s Heathenism EP Sells 6K Its First Week

According to a recent Tweet from DJ Akademiks, Heathenism sold 6K in its first week. While the number is certainly far lower than most fans probably expected, he appears to have remained confident in his success, based on his latest Twitter/X posts. Unfortunately, however, not everybody is so convinced. Ak’s comments section has been flooded by countless users clowning him for the project’s arguably low sales, and they’re not holding back.

“All that controversy and still couldn’t break 10k,” one critic writes. “Flopped so hard,” another claims. Several users also took the opportunity to joke about Meek Mill and DJ Akademiks’ recent feud, and how glad the latter probably was to spread the news. “Ak rubbing his hands together after getting this information,” one user says.

Social Media Users Clown Meek Mill Over Heathenism First-Week Sales

What do you think of Meek Mill’s new EP Heathenism selling 6k in its first week? Are you surprised? Do you think he deserves the clowning he’s receiving online, or are critics doing too much? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates. Check out some Twitter/X users’ reactions down below.

Read More: Meek Mill Roasted For Wanting To Get Ghanaian Citizenship

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Kanye West & Ty Dolla Sign’s “Vultures 1” First Week Sales Revealed

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Vultures 1 will debut atop the Billboard Album 200, giving Kanye West his 11th No. 1 album. Per Luminate, the long-awaited album sold 148,000 copies in its first week. The project beat out Usher, who debuted at No. 2, his highest in a decade, with Coming Home. The album was released on February 11, just hours before Usher headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. The full album chart will have a delayed release due to President’s Day.

The album is stacked with features. The first feature of Vultures 1 is India Love on “Keys To My Life”. Two songs later, Kanye is joined by his daughter North West for “Talking/Once Again”. That is followed by an appearance from Freddie Gibbs on “Back To Me”. Tracks 7 and 8 are another pair of back-to-back features, with Nipsey Hussle & YG appearing on “Do It” and Quavo featuring on “Paperwork”. The final four features can be found between tracks 10 and 13. There are two appearances by Playboi Carti – “Fuk Sum” (also featuring Travis Scott) and “Carnival” (also featuring Rich The Kid). Meanwhile, Chris Brown adds his vocals to “Beg Forgiveness”. Finally, there is the album’s namesake, which features Lil Durk & Bump J.

Read More: Kanye West Prices All Vultures 1 Merch $20, But There’s A Catch

Kanye West Debuts Cover Art For “Carnival”

Meanwhile, Kanye has unveiled the intense cover art for “Carnival”, one of the standout tracks from the recently released Vultures 1. Designed by noted Canadian artist Jon Rafman, the cover art for “Carnival” depicts a close-up of a screaming and bloodied skinhead. Rafman also created the AI-generated music video for “Vultures (Havoc Version)” which was released alongside the album.

“Carnival” features Playboi Carti and Rich the Kid. As mentioned, it is widely considered one of the best tracks on Vultures 1. Many people have already called it the best song of 2024. However, the song proved controversial even before it was released. A version heard at a listening party in Chicago earned the ire of Ozzy Osbourne due to an uncleared sample of Black Sabbath. A later version at a Long Island listening party used a sample of Kanye’s “Hell of a life”, which interpolates the same Black Sabbath song.

Read More: Quavo Was Removed From Kanye West’s “Fuk Sumn” And Fans Aren’t Happy

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Megan Thee Stallion “HISS” On Pace For No. 1 Debut

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Megan Thee Stallion is in full rollout mode with a new album and tour on the way, and that always involves a lead single to get fans excited, prepared -– and streaming. Moreover, despite the quality behind the under-appreciated “Cobra,” it seems like “HISS” will serve this purpose quite well for her when it comes to both how it’s resonated with fans and with commercial metrics. According to Chart Data on Twitter, the Houston rapper could land a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 if its numbers continue on the pace they are at as of writing this article. While the report doesn’t indicate a particular number, Billboard themselves reported that the song continues to grow and garner more and more streams.

As such, Megan Thee Stallion could potentially have her first-ever No. 1 debuting song as a solo artist. This would be a great start to this new phase of her career, and would also lay the foundation for more buzz and promotion from a purely commercial standpoint. But the 28-year-old still impresses with blazing flows, combative energy, and some really sharp lines to contrast her previously measured and emotional single. What she needs to keep up is this sense of dynamism and freshness with each cut, and we’ll have a great project and lead-up to cherish in 2024.

Read More: How Did Megan Thee Stallion Get Her “Tina Snow” Alter Ego Name?

Megan Thee Stallion Is On Track For Her First Solo Number One Hit

However, the “Hot Girl” continues to face a lot of scrutiny and backlash from some rap corners in the game, albeit not many. For example, Wack 100 recently claimed that there is a video of Tory Lanez’s shooting of her that proves that she is lying, and that this incident didn’t happen at all between them. Many fans debated the veracity of this on social media, given that there is no evidence of this clip. Some believe the prosecution and court suppressed it in Lanez’s trial, whereas others expressed shock at how fans continue to challenge the conviction.

Meanwhile, on the topic of conflict, Nicki Minaj’s response track “Big Foot” is also performing well commercially. It played at some big events, broke streaming records for hip-hop in 2024, and made a big splash on arrival in other ways. No matter which song you think is better, this success can only set the bar for their future work, and only they can capitalize on it. On that note, come back to HNHH for more news and the latest updates on Megan Thee Stallion.

Read More: Megan Thee Stallion Net Worth 2024: Updated Wealth Of The Megastar

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Nicki Minaj Goes No. 1 With “Pink Friday 2”

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To absolutely no one’s surprised, Nicki Minaj’s new album Pink Friday 2 had a great first-week debut on the Billboard album charts. Moreover, according to new metrics from Chart Data, the project is set to sell 222K units in this timeframe, placing it at the No. 1 spot on the charts. She must be very happy with this outcome, regardless of whether or not she believes in the power of angel numbers. Other placements on this week’s album chart are also unsurprising: Taylor Swift (thrice in the top 10), Drake, Morgan Wallen, SZA, and so on. Congrats to the Trinidadian MC for closing out 2023 with another No. 1 hip-hop LP, one of the few we got this year.

Furthermore, she is showing no signs of slowing her roll down in the near future. In fact, Nicki Minaj recently teased a long-anticipated spectacle for her Barbz, one that’s been in the works for a while. But she kept things clear and optimistic when relaying that she’s still hard at work on her documentary. Considering the 41-year-old’s massively impactful career and her staggering trajectory, such a tale should be a compelling look into this success.

Read More: Nicki Minaj Accuses Billboard Of Threatening To Take Away “Pink Friday 2” Sales

Nicki Minaj Cinches Third No. 1 Release With Pink Friday 2

On the other hand, she is also getting ready for her world tour in 2024, something that the Barbz have begged for incessantly for a long, long time. Finally, it seems like Nicki Minaj is ready to fully embrace the stage once again, fueled by this newfound wealth of material. Of course, we would expect her to run through her stacked catalog of hits too, but to see her in a new era is the most exciting of these prospects. If you’re thinking about buying a ticket, act fast; we’d only expect them to get tougher to purchase from here on out.

Meanwhile, what remains to be seen now is whether the “Let Me Calm Down” hitmaker landed a No. 1 song on the charts. With a couple of different smashes to choose from, it would be pretty interesting to see which one lands on top from all the tracks on Pink Friday 2, even if it doesn’t nab the highest placement. Let us know your predictions on that end in the comments section down below. Also, stay logged into HNHH for the latest news and updates on Nicki Minaj.

Read More: Kanye West On Nicki Minaj Refusing To Clear “New Body”: “I Supported Her Career”

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Andre 3000’s Experimental New Album Sells 24k In Its First Week

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Last week, Andre 3000 surprised the rap world by dropping his debut solo album after nearly two decades without a new project. But as soon as the announcement dropped, he made it clear to fans that the album might not be what they were expecting. He promised that the album had “no bars” and delivered on that promise. New Blue Sun is a long ambient jazz album that predominately features Andre playing the flute.

Now, the official first-week sales numbers for the project are in. It pushed 24k units which was good enough for #34 on the Billboard 200. While the numbers aren’t eye-popping by hip-hop standards, they’re very impressive for such an experimental album. While the project has been met with plenty of praise from critics, fans have been much more skeptical. Many out there don’t feel all that relieved that Andre finally released an album, because they were only hoping for a new rap project. New Blue Sun was the fourth highest-debuting album this week behind country legend Dolly Parton, K-pop group ENHYPHEN, and the new collaborative album between 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne.

Read More: Andre 3000 Explains His Stance On Dropping A Rap Album

Andre 3000 Debuts At Number 34

In the wake of his album announcement, Andre 3000 made numerous other revelations in an interview with GQ. He revealed that he’s secretly been collaborating with other artists and contributing instrumentation to their album under a pseudonym. That caused fans to pour through their music libraries looking for tracks he might be included on.

Now that the sales numbers for the album are out, fans are reflecting on DJ Vlad’s take on the project. He claimed that the streaming and sales numbers speak for themselves and that Andre should focus on giving the people what they want. Many fans who liked the album disagreed with his take online. What do you think of the first week sales for Andre 3000’s new album? Were they more or less than what you were expecting? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: Andre 3000 “New Blue Sun” Review

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J. Cole Tells Lil Yachty About The State Of Hip-Hop Today & Weight Of First-Week Sales

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J. Cole and Lil Yachty had a great time together on the latter’s A Safe Place podcast, and had a lot of interesting discussions and debates. Two of these speak to the current state of hip-hop, and how the two different but kindred spirits view their place in it all and where it’s headed. Moreover, one of these is the purely artistic expression in the genre, and how industry dynamics and the culture are shifting. Another relates to rap’s commercial dominance, particularly in first-week sales. They had a lot to say as two leaders in styles that, although different, can always co-exist. “Do you think rap was in a better space when it was more gangster rap, or is it in a healthier place now with hyperpop and ‘mumble rap’ being so prevalent?” Lil Yachty asked J. Cole.

“What’s you honest opinion on the new generation? What’s missing?” he asked. “I can’t say it was in a better space because that’s my favorite,” J. Cole replied. “Bro, I’m a person that I try my best to accept- like you said earlier- accept it for what it is. My favorite era is what I grew up on. I can’t put nothing past how I feel and how I felt outside of my own… you know what I mean? I try to push myself to that, but bro, I’m grown, I was listening to that when I was a kid. Now it’s new kids that got their new favorites. I wouldn’t feel comfortable being like, ‘Hell yeah, that s**t was in a better space!’ Because I don’t feel negatively about this space. I feel like this space is clearing the way for the next space, and the next space.

Read More: J. Cole Claims He Doesn’t Charge For Guest Verses

Lil Yachty Inquires About Hip-Hop’s Current Form: Watch

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by DJ Akademiks (@akademiks)

“Do I feel like we in a golden era right now?” J. Cole continued. “No. I can say that, this is not no golden era, you know what I mean? But I feel like that’ll turn really soon because of that. There’s golden eras, bro. That Future ‘March Madness’ era, that’s a golden era. What was happening with music at that time, him included, Drake at that time, what I was contributing, Kendrick, like, that’s a golden era. Now, guess what? I feel like, culturally, we are at the doorstep of another golden era.” “How do you feel about first week numbers?” Lil Yachty asked. “They change,” Cole answered. “It’s not black and white like it used to be. When there were gatekeepers and labels, and that barrier of entry was what it was, it was clear to see what was a success and what was a flop.

J. Cole On First-Week Sales Numbers: Watch

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by DJ Akademiks (@akademiks)

“At that time, bro, [Canibus’ first] album was considered a flop,” he concluded. “Maybe a hundred, maybe two hundred, but he didn’t do twenty, you know what I mean? He did hundreds, and he was a flop. And these sales [now] ain’t even based on the amount of people, they based on streams. Like, goddamn, that’s hard! I feel like you can do 10 today, 15, 20, and it’s not a flop. I don’t feel like that applies to today. Of course, you would know better than me, because you’re more in it. I think it’s just a way to either praise who you like or to s**t on who you don’t like. But if you my favorite artist and you did 4,000 in your first week, you think I’m going to be like, ‘Man’?” For more on J. Cole and Lil Yachty, stay posted on HNHH.

Read More: Lil Yachty Divulges On Potential Drake Collab Album

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Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj Fans Debate Sales Predictions For Upcoming Albums 

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Young Money fans are eating in 2023. With the release of For All The Dogs, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne are now gearing up for their respective bodies of work. However, Nicki’s Pink Friday 2 was already set to drop on November 17th when Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz announced the release date for Welcome 2 Collegrove, which will drop on the same day. Needless to say, it feels like it’s already a first-week sales showdown between the mentor and the mentee.

Already, their respective fanbases are debating who will emerge with the higher first-week sales. For the most part, many of the Barbz feel a type of way about Lil Wayne dropping on the same day as the artist that he signed. Many pointed out that it seemed odd that Lil Wayne had put himself in a position to compete against Nicki Minaj rather than letting her shine. However, it doesn’t seem likely that Welcome 2 Collegrove will outsell Pink Friday 2, especially considering the success of the lead single, “Super Freaky Girl.”

Read More: Lil Wayne And 2 Chainz Give Us The First Listen Of “Welcome To ColleGrove” With “Presha”

How Much Did Queen & Collegrove Sell In The First Week?

While both of these projects are highly anticipated efforts in hip-hop as a whole, another reason why it seems likely that Nicki Minaj will outsell 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne is purely based on numbers. Nicki’s last album, Queen, moved 155K units in its first week in 2018, although she debuted at #2 behind Travis Scott’s Astroworld. Meanwhile, 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne’s ColleGrove moved 53,000 units in its first week in 2016 including 34,000 from pure sales.

Unfortunately, it’s too early for any formal predictions of what each album will sell. Regardless, it’ll be a great day for hip-hop fans. In the past few weeks, both Wayne and Nicki have unloaded new singles. Weezy unveiled Tha Fix Before Tha VI while Nicki Minaj recently delivered “For All The Barbz,” a remix to Drake and Chief Keef’s “All The Parties.” Which album will you be checking out first on November 17th? Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz’s Welcome 2 ColleGrove 2 or Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2? Sound off in the comments below. 

Read More: Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” LP Turns 11

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DJ Akademiks Trolls The City Girls, Says RIAA Told Him They Went 15x Plastic

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DJ Akademiks is someone who is known for being a huge troll. Overall, he has one of the biggest online empires in hip-hop media. Although he has pissed a lot of people off on his way to the top, he has been able to continue his ascent. A lot of his work these days is done over on Rumble, where he is a streamer. He used to be on Twitch, and although he still streams over there, Rumble is giving him the bag. In fact, while on Rumble, he is a lot more free to say whatever he wants.

Akademiks has been a staunch critic of the City Girls in the past. More specifically, he has gone after the likes of Yung Miami. Consequently, it should come as absolutely no surprise that he had something to say about their poor showing as it pertains to the first week sales for their new album, RAW. The project is estimated to do 6K units in the first week, which is not great. On his stream, Akademiks decided to troll them in a truly brutal way.

Read More: DJ Akademiks Clowns DJ Envy For Alleged Fraud Scheme: “He Can’t Even Read”

DJ Akademiks Never Holds Back

Above, you can see that Akademiks begins to explain how he had a conversation with someone at the RIAA. Subsequently, he says the inside source called the new City Girls album “15x Plastic.” Of course, this conversation never happened and Plastic is not an actual certification. However, Akademiks has made similar jokes in the past. If you have ever watched him, you knew exactly where his spiel was going. While his audience may have appreciated the joke, we’re sure the City Girls weren’t so amused by all of this.

Needless to say, Ak is loving this right now. Let us know what you think about the City Girls’ first-week sales situation, in the comments section below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will always be sure to keep you informed.

Read More: DJ Akademiks Questions Whether Drake Still Identifies As Jewish

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Bad Bunny’s First Week Sales Lower Than Projected, Offset & Ken Carson Do Impressive Numbers

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October has undeniably been one of the biggest months that rap has had in 2023 so far, namely due to the long-awaited arrival of Drake’s For All The Dogs. When the father of one finally put that out for his fans, many others felt more comfortable sharing their work, knowing they wouldn’t disappear beneath Drizzy. The next weekend, Bad Bunny shared his surprise LP, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Manana, which was initially projected to sell 200 – 225K copies in its first week out.

On Friday (October 20), the final numbers came in, revealing that Benito fell short of Hits Daily Double‘s estimate by a few thousand. Instead, his album moved 8K in pure sales plus 174K in streaming, totalling 183K. Elsewhere in the world of hip-hop, Offset impressed us by selling 70K album-equivalent units of his latest solo project, SET IT OFF. Far more of his came from pure sales (26K) than we saw with Bunny, crediting just 43K to streaming.

Read More: Bad Bunny Announces Massive 2024 Tour

Bad Bunny’s Surprise Album Sells 183K

Bad Bunny’s ‘nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana’ sells 183K, Offset’s ‘SET IT OFF’ sells 70K, Ken Carson’s ‘A Great Chaos’ sells 49K, Westside Gunn’s ‘And Then They Pray For You’ sells 20K
byu/DropWatcher inhiphopheads

We also saw noteworthy efforts from Ken Carson and Westside Gunn appear on this week’s chart. The former sold 49K copies of A Great Chaos, while the latter moved 20K of And Then They Pray For You. The Griselda hitmaker faced some backlash over his work, but he was quick to address the haters on social media before focusing energy back on his big plans for the future.

Carson impressed plenty of music lovers with his A Great Chaos project, including Drake. The Canadian gave him a co-sign on Instagram, which obviously means the world to an up-and-comer at this time. Read more about that at the link below, and let us know which new album from October has been your favourite so far in the comments.

Read More: Drake Co-Signs Ken Carson And His New Album “A Great Chaos”

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