Shawn Mendes Album On Course for No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200 Chart

4/15/2015 by Keith Caulfield

Austin Hargrave

Shawn Mendes photographed on March 27, 2015 at the Hollywood & Vine Lofts in Hollywood.

Vine superstar-turned-major label recording artist Shawn Mendes is aiming for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart next week. The 16-year-old singer released his debut full-length album Handwritten on April 14 through Island Records. Industry forecasters suggest the set could move over 100,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 19.

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 new Billboard 200’s top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, April 22.

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Mendes previously charted with a self-titled EP, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 in 2014, selling 48,000 copies in its first week (according to Nielsen Music).

The only likely other contender for the No. 1 slot next week is the chart’s current champ, the Furious 7 soundtrack. It finished the April 12 tracking week with 111,000 units (up 51 percent).

Other albums heading for high debuts next week include Tyler, the Creator’s Cherry Bomb and Reba McEntire’s Love Somebody (with both aiming for around 60,000 units).