The Weeknd Aiming for Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Plus: Rod Wave and Sam Hunt set for top 10 debuts.

The Weeknd’s After Hours album is aiming to hold on for a third straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Industry forecasters suggest the effort could tally over 85,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 9. The album opened at No. 1 two weeks ago, with 444,000 units (according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data), and then held atop the list for a second week with 138,000.

A possible spoiler for After Hours’ could come from Rod Wave’s new Pray 4 Love, which could earn over 75,000 units, mostly from streaming activity. Pray 4 Love is the rapper-singer’s second album, and follows his debut set Ghetto Gospel, which peaked at No. 10 on the Nov. 23, 2019-dated chart. Pray 4 Love was released on April 3 via Alamo/Geffen Records.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the April 18-dated Billboard 200 chart (where After Hours could spend a third week at No. 1) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s website on Sunday, April 12.

After Hours continues to benefit from solid streaming numbers, as well as sales generated from oodles of merchandise/album bundles sold via The Weeknd’s official store. The album’s “Blinding Lights” is currently in its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As for Pray 4 Love, it too is on track for sizable streaming figures, while its single “Heart on Ice” climbs 43-30 (a new peak) on the latest Hot 100.

Also on tap for a top 10 debut on next week’s Billboard 200 is Sam Hunt’s first studio album in over five years, Southside. Forecasters suggest the album could finish the week with over 45,000 units.