PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 23: Ye is seen, outside Kenzo, during Paris Fashion Week - Menswear F/W ... [+]
Kanye West is one of the most controversial musicians in the world right now. He still maintains a massive fan base, but throughout the past few years, millions have stopped listening to him, or are otherwise tired of the rapper, his hurtful comments, and the drama. While many may have walked away from the hip-hop talent, that doesn’t appear to be stopping him when it comes to ruling the charts.
Vultures 1, the comeback album from West and his collaborator Ty Dolla $ign, appears to be on track to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 next week. According to music industry publication HitsDailyDouble, the title is aiming to launch atop the ranking of the most-consumed albums in the U.S. with around 140,000 equivalent units. That sum is far from certain, but HDD is almost always very close with its predictions.
Of those 140,000 equivalent units, just about 15,000 are expected to be pure sales. Streaming activity will likely make up the bulk of the rest of the 100,000-plus equivalent units.
West is no stranger to the top of the Billboard charts, but seeing Vultures 1 open in first place will be different this time around. He’s faced trouble and controversy in the past, but not at the same scale as in the past year or two. The fact that the public is still willing to consume his new music shows that no matter what he does or says—or how virulently he says it—they’re clearly still open to supporting him.
West is still recovering from making a slew of antisemitic remarks, which changed his career for the worse. After uttering a number of statements that were called highly offensive and damaging by many Jewish leaders and organizations—and well beyond that specific community—he was dropped by many of his brand deals and most of his associates left him. Now, he’s looking to mount a comeback, and it seems like it’s going very well.
Vultures 1 will mark West’s eleventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200—if it’s credited to him, that is. The project is sometimes credited to superduo ¥$, which is made up of West and $ign. If Billboard labels the set as a release from that band, it will be the first for the group. If it goes to West and $ign as individuals, and perhaps also ¥$, that will be a different story, and he’ll officially get to add to his career sum.
West and $ign are set to beat out the other top debut of the week, which comes from Usher. The R&B and pop superstar dropped a new album just before he headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. Coming Home is currently pacing for a No. 3 launch on the Billboard 200, which will mark Usher’s highest placement in more than a decade on the tally.
