The end of the year is always a difficult time to release new music, especially during a pandemic. Christmas 2020 landed on a Friday, the typical day for new album releases. While it was dry, for the most part, the long-awaited second album from Playboi Carti arrived in its entirety of 24 songs.


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Whole Lotta Red was roughly two years in the making. The rapper had fans on the edge of their seats in anticipation of his release. And although he’s been a star in his own right, it seems like WLR certifies Playboi Carti as a consumer giant. Immediately after it was released, the sales forecast for the first week emerged and it was pretty high. Industry forecasters predicted it would be between 125,000 and 135,000 in the first week, earning Carti his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Remember, Taylor Swift’s latest album is also high on the charts, so it seemed like even with the high projections, there was a chance it couldn’t land the top spot. According to Hits Daily Double, Carti’s latest album performed under its initial projections, but Carti is essentially fit to hold onto the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. With 110k-115K units moved, Carti will surely top the charts this week, marking the first album n ° 1 of 2021.

Meanwhile, Lil Durk’s The voice rose 65k-70k in his first full week, which earned Durk third place on this week’s chart.

Stay tuned for the official announcement of the Billboard 200.

[Via]