Monthly Archives: April 2017

Kendrick Lamar Set for Career-High Sales as First-Week Forecast for ‘DAMN.’ Album Grows

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Album poised for 2017’s biggest bow as first-week forecast grows to more than 530,000 units.
Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. album just keeps on getting bigger. With the tracking week nearly over (it ends at the close of business on April 20), industry prognosticators have updated their forecast for the set’s first week. It could now launch at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with between 530,000 to 550,000 equivalent album units — the biggest week of 2017 for an album. The current largest week of the year is owned by Drake’s More Life, which debuted with 505,000 units earned in the week ending March 23, according to Nielsen Music.

DAMN.’s latest first-week forecast is an upgrade from April 19, when its estimate stood at 500,000. (And that number itself grew from two days earlier, when the album was aiming for a start of 475,000.)

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 May 6-dated Billboard 200 chart (where DAMN. will likely debut at No. 1) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s website on Sunday, April 23.

North Carolina Captures National Title Over Gonzaga

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After being disappointed in last year’s heartbreaking loss to Villanova, North Carolina redeem themselves and won the national championship with a 71-65 victory over Gonzaga.

This is North Carolina’s sixth national title and first since 2009. Roy Williams now becomes the sixth men’s college basketball coach to have at least three titles, defining all the odds in winning against a big team in Gonzaga.

“At the end, when you’re watching your kids jump around, and the excitement and thrill they have, there’s no better feeling in the world as a coach,” Williams said according to CNN.

The game was tight from the beginning of the first half. Each team put up tough shots and play sensational defense. By halftime Gonzaga led North Carolina 35-32 and most viewers would expect it the second half to be another classci. The Tar Heels went on a 8-0 run to take a 40-35 lead, but Gonzaga responded back with their own run to make it 43-40 with 14:34 left.

From that point on teams trade points and fouls. But North Carolina’s Isaiah Hicks jumper in the closing minutes gave them a 68-65 lead with 27 seconds to go. Gonzaga try to make a shot but got blocked and the Tar Heels never looked back. This is a night these Tar Heels will remember for a long time, and now have a chance to do it all over again next season.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Joel Berry II said, who scored 22 points and named Most Outstanding Player. “It’s what we’ve worked for. The ups and downs that we’ve had, it’s all worth it. I can’t even describe my feeling right now, but I’m just glad that I was able to do something with this team because I felt like, just the personality and what we went through, and I think we just deserved it.”