On next week’s Billboard 200 albums chart, DJ Khaled’s Grateful may hold on to the No. 1 slot for a second week, while Calvin Harris could notch his first leader with Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, according to industry forecasters. Sources suggest that both albums could earn around 60,000 equivalent album units in the week ending July 6.
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 new July 15-dated Billboard 200 (where Harris could bow at No. 1) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, July 9.
Harris’ new album was released June 30 through Fly Eye/Columbia Records and is the superstar DJ/producer’s fifth full-length studio album. His last studio effort, 2014’s Motion, debuted and peaked at No. 5.
As for DJ Khaled’s Grateful, released through We the Best/Epic Records, the set launched at No. 1 with 149,000 units earned in the week ending June 29, according to Nielsen Music.
One album that’s not in the hunt for No. 1 on next week’s chart is JAY-Z’s 4:44. The album was released June 30 through Roc Nation and was exclusively available for its first week through Tidal and its streaming service. However, Tidal will not be reporting any streaming data for 4:44 to Nielsen Music for the week ending July 6. Thus, the set is anticipated to bow on the July 22-dated chart, following the set’s wide release to most streamers and retailers on Friday (July 7).
4:44 was initially exclusively available to stream for existing customers of Tidal and Sprint (it later became available to new customers of both services). By July 2, the album was offered as a free download -- sponsored by Sprint -- via the website 444.tidal.com. Customers who wanted to download the album were required to submit an email address and use the promotional code “SPRINT” in order to receive the album
For Billboard charting purposes, as per the current pricing policy, the Sprint-promoted downloads would not count toward 4:44’s chart ranking. 4:44 could have debuted solely from streams (like Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book) in its Tidal-exclusive premiere week, had Tidal opted to report data to Nielsen Music.
