S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper Eminem's new Marshall Mathers LP 2 album will easily land atop the sales chart next week but updated projections have his LP's estimates even higher.
Based on weekend projections, Slim Shady’s album will push out at least 725,000 copies in week one.
YOUR TOP 15 (PLUS ONE): As expected, Eminem will debut at #1 on next week’s chart in exactly the same range as his previous album, Recovery, debuted in 2010. Following the CMAs, Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line remain flat or gain slightly vs. last week. Other CMA beneficiaries on next week’s chart will include Kacey Musgraves and Blake Shelton, although neither appear headed for the Top 15 at this point. Duck Dynasty clan The Robertsons’ Duck the Halls holds remarkably strong in its second week, dipping only a few thousand units. Will it be the best-selling holiday album of 2013? Stay tuned. Here’s how it looks headed into the weekend: *Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) 725-750k *Celine Dion (Columbia) 75-80k (HITS Daily Double)
Based on initial one-day estimates, Slim Shady’s newest solo offering’s projections started at 700,000 copies.
YOUR NEW RELEASES: Guess he’s earned the right to call himself a rap god, huh? Hip-hop megastar Eminem will score this year’s second largest debut this week. Here are this week’s key new releases: Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) 700-750k Celine Dion (Columbia) 70-80k Avril Lavigne (Epic) 40-45k Pentatonix (Madison Gate) 27-30k The Wanted (Mercury/IDJ) 18-20k Il Divo (SYCO/Columbia) 14-16k James Blunt (Atlantic) 14-16k Jake Miller (eOne) 14-16k M.I.A. (Interscope) 12-14k (HITS Daily Double)
Music insiders also projected Slim Shady’s new LP would be the second-biggest release of 2013.
Eminem is set to rock the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart next week, as his new album, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2,” is on course to earn the second-largest sales week of the year and debut at No. 1. Released today (Nov. 5), industry sources forecast the new album to sell between 700,000 and 750,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, Nov. 10. That should mark the second-biggest sales week of the year for an album, surpassed only by the debut of Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience,” which opened with 968,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan Currently, the year’s second-biggest week is owned by Drake’s “Nothing Was the Same,” which entered at No. 1 with 658,000. (Billboard)
A few years ago, Em downplayed the importance of selling millions of albums.
“I don’t think I’ve actually stopped to think about it,” Eminem said referencing being named artist of the decade. “I never thought that my life would amount to this. But to be able to sit back and digest it is so strange to me, because I still feel so regular. I don’t understand what people think the big deal is about me. It’s a very strange relationship that I have with fame…Honestly, as long as people enjoy the music, that means the most to me. I could sell 80 million records in the first week, and if my peers or fans of real hip-hop didn’t like it, it really wouldn’t mean anything.” (Rap Radar)
