Big Sean Heading for No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200 Albums Chart With ‘I Decided.’
Big Sean is aiming for his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with "I Decided," while Reba McEntire and the "Dear Evan Hansen" cast recording are both set for big debuts.
Rapper Big Sean is aiming for his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as industry forecasters suggest his new set I Decided. could bow atop the list with around 120,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 9. I Decided. was released on Feb. 3 through G.O.O.D./Def Jam Recordings and is the artist’s fourth album. He previously led the list with his last solo effort, Dark Sky Paradise, in 2015.
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 Feb. 25, 2017-dated Billboard 200 chart — where Big Sean may debut at No. 1 — is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, Feb. 12.
If I Decided. starts at No. 1, it will grant Big Sean his fourth consecutive top five-charting solo effort. In addition, as one-half of the duo Twenty88 (alongside Jhené Aiko), he reached No. 5 with the act’s eponymous debut set in 2016.
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Big Sean’s last album, Dark Sky Paradise, debuted at No. 1 with 173,000 units earned in its first week, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 139,000 were in traditional album sales.
Also on next week’s top 10, watch for Lady Gaga’s Joanne album to surge back into the top five — and possibly to No. 2 — following her Super Bowl halftime performance on Feb. 5. Prognosticators suggest the former No. 1 album could earn over 70,000 units in the week ending Feb. 9 — up from the 8,000 it scored in the frame ending Feb. 2 (according to Nielsen Music). On the latest Billboard 200 chart (dated Feb. 18, reflecting the Feb. 2-ending tracking week), Joanne slid 59-66. During the halftime show, Gaga performed a number of her most familiar hits, alongside the new song “Million Reasons” from Joanne. The album was released last October and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, granting Gaga her fourth chart-topping set.
Plus, watch for Reba McEntire’s first spiritual album, Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope, to start in next week’s top 10. The effort could bow with around 45,000 to 50,000 units and earn the country superstar her 10th top 10-charting set.
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Also on course for a high debut next week — likely in the top 15 and possibly the top 10 — is the original Broadway cast recording of the hit musical Dear Evan Hansen. The set, which was released to digital retailers and streaming services on Feb. 3 through Atlantic Records, could earn 25,000 to 30,000 units. The album’s CD edition will arrive to retailers on Feb. 24.
Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway at Music Box Theatre on Dec. 4, 2016, following preview performances that began on Nov. 14. The show stars Ben Platt (of the first two Pitch Perfect films) and its music and lyrics were written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Pasek and Paul also wrote the bulk of the lyrics for the songs in the movie La La Land, which earned the duo a pair of Academy Award nominations for best original song (“Audition” and “City of Stars”).
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