*Industry pundits are predicting that Kanye West’s new album, “Ye,” will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart next week, while Drake’s “Nice For What” reaches a new milestone on the Hot 100 singles chart
West’s “Ye,” which was released via G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Recordings on June 1, may launch with over 175,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending June 7, according to prognosticators. If the album debuts at No. 1, it will be the eighth of his career to do so.
“Ye” is the Chicago rapper’s eighth solo effort, and ninth overall, counting his Jay-Z collabo, “Watch the Throne.” All of West’s previous titles debuted at No. 1, save for his first album, “The College Dropout,” which bowed and peaked at No. 2 in 2004.
Assuming West bows at No. 1 with Ye, he will tie Eminem for the second-most No. 1s by a hip-hop act. Only Jay-Z, with a total of 14 No. 1s, has more among hip-hop artists.
Over on the singles chart, Drake’s “Nice for What” rules the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a sixth total week, which ties Michael Jackson for the second-most career weeks logged at No. 1 among solo males (37 each) in the chart’s 59-year history, with the pair trailing only Usher (47 weeks) for the lead in the category.
Among all artists, Drake and Jackson now share seventh place:
Most Weeks at No. 1 in Hot 100’s History
79, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
42, Beyonce
37, Drake
37, Michael Jackson
34, Elton John
33, Janet Jackson
33, Katy Perry
“Nice for What” also, concurrently, collects a sixth week at No. 1 on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.
Released on Young Money/Cash Money/Republic Records, “Nice for What” earns Drake his 37th cumulative week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, totaled by his five No. 1s; he previously led as featured on Rihanna’s “What’s My Name? (one week, 2010) and “Work” (nine weeks, 2016) and with his own “One Dance,” featuring WizKid and Kyla (10 weeks, 2016), and “God’s Plan” (11 weeks, 2018).
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