theres people on here who think he'll do 100k-150k just in physicals lmao, I spent like 3 pages arguing with them a few months ago

ari did 77k pure even with the games

I'd honestly bet that this new album does almost exactly the same streaming numbers as Renaissance, unless it's a lot more tracks

seems she's scamming her fans though bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68702870 lmao

edit: wait its out already lmao I didn't realise, scratch what I said

Zach Bryan dropped an album without any singles and did 200k. Morgan Wallen, Harry Styles, J. Cole, Kendrick don't need singles released beforehand to debut with huge numbers.

This isn't true for acts like Taylor Swift/Drake. Also, if you need hits to keep your album stable then you're likely not that established as an artist.

Was gonna say Kendrick might need a single for his next project but he could just ride the wave of the Metro Future single

Are these Future's best numbers ?

Fair enough. But hit singles don't certify anything. Doja Cat had a hit single heading into her latest album and it still underperformed. And there are 2 hits off that album.

i just realised beyonce's album is 27 damn songs, lmao wtf

How did Beyonce's Cowboy Carter double the first day numbers of Renaissance man wtf, ive never seen an established artist do that before, even w the extra tracks its insane

Kendrick can easily score a huge debut without any singles.

27 tracks will do that.

This list is very short though. They are in the minority of artists, not majority. Not many other artists (Wallen, SZA) are doing it. Also, it's a catch-22 issue. Because once the album is released, songs become hit and are sustained and help the album perform and remain stable over long periods of time. Ariana's album is probably going to fall below SZA's weekly numbers in a month or so and that's because there aren't clear cut hits (YET)

I think the "secret" now is releasing an album that has enough compelling songs for your fanbase and mainstream audience to consistently support. A good example of this is CLB. Hated upon release and outside it's huge debut, didn't manage any huge hits but despite that, has remained stable in the Billboard 200 getting into 3 years now. It's steadily in the top 60 right now. It's albums with multiple hits that aren't doing that.

WATTBA did 375k but these are his biggest US streaming debut numbers.

True.

But the a hit helps when we are talking about long term commercial sustainability. GKMC/DAMN are selling more than his last album already. His last album didn't debut too high due to sound/commercial hit and also didn't sustain as well commercially because of the content and therefore lack of hits. Debut can happen but sustainability requires songs to click. Also, once you cross 250k threshold you pretty much by default will a temporary hit (that chats top 20). It needs to sustain over long period of time though. I am not disagreeing with you. What you said works but I don't think it works for majority, only minority.

pls tell a source before blatantly telling lies

Hits aren't what typically hold albums up. Albums are held up by having multiple songs people generally enjoy, hit or not. I doubt many people are running to play Way 2 Sexy right now or even Knife Talk but yet, CLB is stable in the top 60. That's because there's a bunch of other songs that aren't chart hits that people keep returning to.

Lana Del Rey's Born to Die has 0 chart hits but has charted for over 528 weeks. Why? It has multiple songs people keep revisiting. That's really what I think it all boils down to right now. Just make compelling albums. Having 1 or 2 TikTok hits won't keep people coming back to your album 3, 5, 10 years down the line because the truth is that after enough time passes, no one remembers what was and what wasn't a hit off an album. They just remember the songs they love and that's what they keep returning to.