CHART BEAT

Lil Wayne's 'Tha Carter V' Set For No. 1 On Billboard 200 Chart With Third-Largest Streaming Week Ever

10/1/2018 by Keith Caulfield

Lil Wayne will return in a big way to the Billboard 200 albums chart next week, as his new release, Tha Carter V, is set for a splashy bow atop the chart. Industry forecasters suggest the set, which was released on Sept. 28 via Young Money/ Republic Records, will likely launch with over 450,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 4 in the U.S. — and has a shot at reaching a half-million units earned.

Furthermore, the album could generate over 400 million on-demand audio streams for its songs in its first week in the U.S. That sum would garner the set the third-largest streaming week ever for an album, trailing only the debut frames of Drake’s Scorpion (745.9 million, according to Nielsen Music) and Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys (431.3 million) earlier in 2018.

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 Oct. 13-dated Billboard 200 chart (where Tha Carter V should debut at No. 1) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, Oct. 7.

Assuming Tha Carter V debuts at No. 1, it will become Lil Wayne’s fourth leader on the tally. He previously hit No. 1 with Tha Carter IV (2011), I Am Not a Human Being (2010) and Tha Carter III (2008).

Lil Wayne’s last release to chart was 2013’s I Am Not a Human Being II, which debuted and peaked at No. 2.

Other albums on course for high debuts on next week’s Billboard 200 include Cher’s Dancing Queen, Logic’s YSIV and Kevin Gates’ Luca Brasi 3. The three albums were released on Sept. 28, along with a bevy of other titles from notable names. The end of September always brings a rush of significant albums to market, as Sept. 30 marked the end of the eligibility year for the upcoming Grammy Awards.

Other albums aiming for noteworthy bows on next week’s Billboard 200, all drawn from the Sept. 28 release schedule, include alt-J’s Reduxer, Elevation Worship’s Hallelujah Here Below, Loretta Lynn’s Wouldn’t It Be Great, Rod Stewart’s Blood Red Roses, Tom Petty’s An American Treasure, Beartooth’s Disease and Cypress Hill’s Elephants on Acid.