Next week’s Billboard 200 albums chart could see as many as four new titles debut in the top 10, led by NAV’s latest effort, Good Intentions. Industry forecasters suggest the album will earn over 80,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 14. If it enters at No. 1, it will secure the rapper-singer his second leader, following his last release, 2019’s Bad Habits, which launched at No. 1 with 82,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data.
Also on tap for possible top 10 debuts: Kehlani’s It Was Good Until It Wasn’t (perhaps 75,000 units), Lil Durk’s Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 (50,000) and Bad Bunny’s surprise release Las Que No Iban a Salir (over 40,000).
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which comprises traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the May 23-dated Billboard 200 chart (where Good Intentions could launch at No. 1), is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s website on Sunday, May 17.
The 18-track Good Intentions album was released on May 8 via XO/Republic Records and boasts guests such as Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future and Lil Uzi Vert. Then, on May 10, NAV dropped a deluxe reissue of the album, adding 14 new cuts, including tracks featuring Quavo and Lil Duke. Most of Good Intentions’ units for the week will be earned via streaming activity, though it will also generate sales via more than 60 merchandise/album bundles sold via NAV’s official website.
Kehlani, meanwhile, could capture her highest charting album, and best week in terms of units earned, with her latest release, if It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. It could bow at No. 2 with maybe 75,000 units earned. Kehlani’s new album is supported by a small range of merchandise/album bundles.
Presently, her highest charting set is SweetSexySavage, which debuted and peaked at No. 3 in 2017 with 58,000 first-week units (her biggest week, in terms of volume).
Drake’s Dark Lane Demo Tapes, which debuted at No. 2 on the current Billboard 200 chart, could come in at either Nos. 2 or 3 on next week’s tally. It may earn around 75,000 units.
Rapper Lil Durk should see his new album Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 start in the top 10 with over 50,000 units, mostly driven by streaming activity. If it bows in the top 10, it will secure the artist his second visit to the region, following 2019’s No. 4-peaking Love Songs 4 the Streets 2.
Finally, Bad Bunny’s surprise-release Las Que No Iban a Salir could tally over 40,000 units in an abbreviated week. The set dropped without warning in the mid-afternoon on Sunday, May 10, so it will only have about four and a half days of activity before the tracking week’s end on May 14. (Most new releases tend to drop on Friday each week, the first day of the tracking week. Bad Bunny has bucked this trend repeatedly with his earlier albums, opting to release them at varying times of the week.)
Bad Bunny’s 10-track album is effectively a compilation of previously unfinished songs. The album title translates to: “the one’s that weren’t going to be released.” The set includes, amusingly, simple-named songs like “Canción Con Yandel” (translation: “Song With Yandel”) with Yandel, and “Bad Con Nicky” (“Bad With Nicky”) with Nicky Jam.
Most of the first-week activity for Bad Bunny’s album will come via streaming services. (There are no merchandise/album bundles in play as of May 12.) The album has proven to be so popular out of the gate with streamers, that, according to Apple Music, it became the first Latin album to reach the top of Apple Music’s Top Albums tally. Apple Music’s Top Albums ranking ranks the most streamed albums within the service at any given point in time.
Bad Bunny’s previous album, YHLQMDLG, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 earlier this year – marking the highest-charting all-Spanish-language album in the history of the chart. The set has yet to depart the top 10 of the chart since its release 10 weeks ago. On the current chart, it fell from No. 7 to No. 10.