Kendrick Lamar‘s new album GNX is expected to make a significant splash on the Billboard 200 following its surprise release last week.
According to HITS Daily Double, the 12-track project is projected to earn 291,000 equivalent album units in its first week, including just over 30,000 in pure sales.
That figure means GNX would comfortably debut at number one on next week’s chart, beating out the Wicked soundtrack which is on track to open with over 100,000 units.
UPDATE [11/28]: HITSDailyDouble now pegs GNX‘s first-week sales at between 310,000 and 325,000, helped by the buzz surrounding Drake’s legal battle with Universal Music Group over Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” diss song.
The original article, published on November 27, can be viewed below.
GNX — Kendrick’s first album not to be released on Top Dawg Entertainment — would also mark the Compton rapper’s sixth consecutive chart-topper following To Pimp a Butterfly, untitled unmastered., DAMN., Black Panther: The Album and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
US albums chart preview (via @HITSDD):
#1 @kendricklamar 291K
#2 Wicked 109K
#3 Sabrina Carpenter (@SabrinAnnLynn) 70K
#4 @tylerthecreator 68K
#5 @billieeilish 50K
#6 @gracieabrams 48K
#7 @rauwalejandro 45K
#8 @MorganWallen 42K
#9 @taylorswift13 40K
#10 Zach Bryan 39K— chart data (@chartdata) November 26, 2024
In terms of first-week sales, its projected tally would be on par with his previous effort Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (295,000) but fall short of To Pimp a Butterfly (324,000) and DAMN. (603,000), which remains his most commercially successful release.
Compared to other major rap albums from 2024, GNX would rank third in first-week consumption behind Travis Scott‘s Days Before Rodeo re-release (361,000) and Tyler, The Creator‘s Chromakopia (299,500).
However, it would out-perform projects such as Eminem‘s The Death of Slim Shady (281,000), Future and Metro Boomin‘s We Don’t Trust You (251,000) and Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures 1 (148,000).
GNX caps off a banner year for Kendrick Lamar who emerged victorious in his high-profile feud with Drake, scoring one of the biggest hits of 2024 with his chart-topping, Grammy-nominated (and potentially lawsuit-prompting) diss song “Not Like Us.”
It also arrives just a few months before his halftime show performance at next year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, an announcement that ruffled the feathers of hometown hero Lil Wayne as well as many of his supporters.
Kendrick addressed the controversy on the album’s opening track “wacced out murals,” rapping: “Used to bump ‘Tha Carter III,’ I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down.”
He added: “Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me / All these n-ggas agitated, I’m just glad they showin’ they faces / Quite frankly, plenty artists but they outdated / Old-ass flows, tryna convince me that you they favorite.”
Lil Wayne issued a prickly response to the lyrics, writing on X (formerly Twitter): “Man wtf I do?! I just be chillin & dey still kome 4 my head. Let’s not take kindness for weakness. Let this giant sleep. I beg u all. No one really wants destruction,not even me but I shall destroy if disturbed. On me. Love.”
Nas, on the other hand, continued to cheerlead for Kendrick by praising him for “keeping the essence of this shit alive and at the forefront” with GNX.
Curious what it’d take for him to get out of Interscope contract and be fully independent. He doesn’t need labels anymore.
It’s proven that without interscopes payola, kendrick and eminems careers would be over
@Truth aka Ovo.. you’re a retarded Drake groupie.drake went into full Karen mode after Kendrick destroyed him. Everyone is laughing at him for filing a lawsuit over a rap beef that he lost.Cope harder
Kendrick didn’t destroy shit. Gnx is on track to sell less than Mr morals let alone any of drake’s albums. And if universal is preventing drake from responding, he can take legal action
Gay Truth 😂
@Truth GNX sold 4 thousand less its first week. And it’s a surprise album. Keep wish casting though.
@gem lord let’s not pretend these are sales. Surprise album doesn’t matter in the era of “oh, I’m on Spotify daily, oh, here’s the new kendrick, cool”. Not knocking kendrick, just saying it’s not 2006, it’s not real sales, and surprise albums are found in an instant by fans, nobody gets talen off guard really.
piracy eats up most of the profit stamp out piracy good for the economy fuck the pirates
FAKE NEWS
Kendrick can’t even outsell drake’s for the dogs album at the end. Kendrick can take his taylor swift produced album and fuck off. Trying to be west coast gangsta while getting supported by a white pop star in the process. Lol.
Give it a rest Ovo, drake isn’t going to bang you. You’re far too old and overweight for him.
You can’t even try to prove me wrong because you know that drake is celebrating that kendrick is flopping.
And you can’t prove me wrong that you eat drakes ass.. get out of there and get some oxygen..then brush your teeth
You call THAT a celebration? MC Hammer celebrated harder doing KFC commercials back when at the top of Hip-Hop.
Because your accusation is so ridiculous it doesn’t warrant a direct response
Mc Hammer wasn’t hiphop though. As a popstar, his fame had a time limit. Drake can be popular for as long as he wants to
@Truth Can’t front.. “Taylor Swift produced album” was funny. 😂
Drake is somewhere smiling
Drake is somewhere crying to his lawyers
When Universal is trying to prevent drake’s music from coming out and instead give that marketing to kendrick’s slander, he does have a right to a lawsuit. Drake could have simply popped a cap in kendrick’s ass but he wants to be fair
@Lol Give it a rest gay greg, Drake isn’t going to bang you
Hater above me is mad because I’m right. Kendrick lucky he still walking at all
gay greg, the only shooting going on is your boyfriend shooting his loads down your throat
Only guy i ever kissed was my dad. Father’s and sons do that
@ Gay Truth, yup you kissed him in the mouf on some Gay Greg shit. Fucking weirdo.
Lol what drake gone say bout Kendrick that he already said tryna cover up what Ken said about him cause when shots get fired expect retaliation
Lol what drake gone say bout Kendrick that he already said tryna cover up what Ken said about him cause when shots get fired expect retaliation
Drake is sueing him over song sells but not pe-do aligations. He is trying to use Kendrick to get out of that worthless contract he is in. He sold himself out, his contract gave them full control of everything about himself. So yeah they say sit down he has to sit like the dog he is. He keeps proving he doesn’t know hiphop culture.
Are you slow? He literally suing him for defamation
I hate how they ever equated digital streams to physichal sales. Never should’ve happened, should just be called “streams” and have stream charts. Nothing else. Idc if it takes 1,000 streams to equate to 1 fake sale. It’s not a sale. I listened to this twice. I don’t like any of it. But my listen goes towards a sale. Back in time, ppl had to purchase music if they liked it. Nowadays, people like Bhad Babie and Lil Nas X can be rich and famous because people click their crap. If they had to purchase a CD, these two would NEVER make it. Sad world. Empowers junk music to flourish.
Def good numbers but wild to me that Tyler outsold him. Congrats to them both but would never have guessed that.
All that shit talking for to drop 290k? Waste of time and kendirkc fans should of supported this weak album and get him to 600k lol