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.
Source: Billboard
