Beyoncé‘s seventh studio album, RENAISSANCE, is gearing up to make a big splash on the charts in its first week.
According to Hits Daily Double, RENAISSANCE is projected to move between 275,000 and 315,000 equivalent album units in its first week. Additionally, the record is expected to collect upwards of 170 million plays in the United States, which is much higher than early predictions. The outlet reports that those projections are strong enough to place the album in the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
The projected figures would place RENAISSANCE among the largest releases of this year. Harry Styles‘ Harry House currently holds the title for the biggest debut, with 521,000 equivalent album units. Kendrick Lamar previously had the largest opening for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, which scored 258,000 equivalent album units.
Bey’s 2016 album Lemonade had quite the opening too, earning 653,000 equivalent album units and triple platinum certification from the RIAA.
Notably, RENAISSANCE includes a slew of features from Drake, Jay-Z, Skrillex, The-Dream, Honey Dijon, Labrinth, Raphael Saadiq, Tems, Syd, Lucky Daye, Leven Kali, Dixson, No I.D. and 070 Shake. The album also samples music from Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, James Brown and others. After much speculation, Beyoncé confirmed that the project will include three acts earlier this week.
Elsewhere in music, Eminem will drop an unreleased 50 Cent collaboration from 2009 on Curtain Call 2.
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