J. Cole’s new album 4 Your Eyez Only is heading for a huge debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, according to industry forecasters. Sources suggest the rapper will earn his fourth chart-topper with the release, and it will blast in with perhaps around 550,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 15 — the third-largest debut of 2016.
Of J. Cole’s forecasted launch, traditional album sales could equal around 360,000 to 380,000 — Cole’s best sales week ever.
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 new Dec. 31-dated Billboard 200 chart — where 4 Your Eyez Only should bow at No. 1 — is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, Dec. 18.