J. Cole‘s third studio album, ‘Forest Hills Drive’, may not have benefited from an elaborate pre-release setup or even any singles, yet the LP is on course to open with major first week sales.
Details on the Dreamville/Roc Nation project’s performance below…
Hits Daily Double reports that the set (which hit retail today) is on trail to open atop of the Billboard 200 next week with sales of 240,000-270,000.
The figure, which is being stressed as a very early projection, would put ‘Drive’ in the same sales ballpark as that of the rapper’s first and second LP’s (2011’s ‘Cole World: A Sideline Story’ and last year’s ‘Born Sinner’) which premiered with 218k and 297k respectively.
From where we’re standing, though, the predicted number is more impressive than that of even ‘Sinner’ due to the purposeful lack of pre-release promo.
Of course, we live in a world where “surprise releasing” and limited notification are proving a powerful marketing tools (see: Beyonce, Pharrell Williams). But, whichever way it’s diced or sliced, there are only a select set of artists who can pull off such a strategy and Cole has emerged as one of the elite.
Kudos!
Why is this post acting like this is disappointing? Those #s are wonderful for an album that was just announced like 2-3 weeks ago and had less promo than Yeezus.
He did better than Lana last trash album so yes it is amazing.
He also did twice as much as Cheek To Cheek stupid f*****.
Congrats love him he’s pure talent
He’s the ish!!! Much love and respect for Cole, he’s the realest, hardworking rapper I ever know. Whatever success he may be getting, he totally deserves it.
What About K. Michelle’s “Anybody wanna buy my album”?
14k
The question was about K. Michelle’s album, not Cheek to Cheek….
lol
Come on J. Cole those are impressive numbers and feats
Very much so he hasn’t even gotten a lot of promotion
I didn’t expect that, really impressive.
LOL at calling this major. It’s decent but not major.
Impressive if it becomes reality (cause I´m tired of all these predictions which so often ruin albums commercial journey), in this climate and the sales we have in 2014 it is really good.
1 1 TAYLOR SWIFT1989 227,933 -18% week number 6
Taylor is still selling amazing 6 weeks on, selling another 227, 933 in the states !!
Ah thats amazing! All the old white people love “virgin” Tay. Too bad her vag is a gapping black hole for all those with a pulse and p*nis.
Well I’m not old… You know being bitter isn’t a good look.. You can’t stand she’s winning can you? Hahaha too bad.
Gonna cry into you pillow?
No one thinks taylor is a virgin, she doesn’t ever say she is.. She’s a grown women, but it’s about time you grow up yourself with these comments.
Excellent numbers.
Great album.
I’m so ready!
LOL “Uncertified” did like 25% of that… And that’s about double of Shady XV… *sips tea*
I’m not really Into rap music but ths is very good!! I’m impressed. I like j cole as a person I’m glad to see him win and do it on his terms. Does anyone know what his album sales are so far? Has he ever gone plantinum?
REAL HIP HOP FANS LOVE HIM…
He always slays lowkey n remains unbothered
Amazing j cole!! Keep up the good work!
YES! #TeamJCole!! I got my copy today!!!!! Support not Good but GREAT Hip Hop artists! Those numbers are great for an album that had minimum promo he would do more if there was more of a push and TV Awareness promo going on but he wanted to release it his way. So basically the sales stem from the Internet and a few percentage of people passing by a music store and seeing his album on the front shelf. And MYYY the album is a CLASSIC! 😀
HASHTAG: #TeamJCole
Congrats Jcole!!!! One of my favorite newer rappers. 3 albums 200+k 1st week sales!
That’s Terrific! No Single, No pre-release setup promo. That’s pretty damn impressive.
Wow. I’m so happy for him. He’s extremely talented and so cute.
Kii at Applause perching in my comment like it’s not about to outsell Ashes To Ashes (which had more promo than deviantARTPOP) in a month.
LOL KII AT BOTH CHEEK TO CHEEK AND ARTPOP OUTSELLING ULTRANONEXISTENT THO LOL
Not when Ashes To Ashes barely sold 600K worldwide. Death at over 60% of its sales coming from the US. A Payola Heroine tea.
This is not even close to the word “major”. Part of the reason the industry is going to s*** is because people are too quick to accept mediocrity and wanna celebrite anything that narrowly escapes it. It’s like throwing a party for a kid that got a “C” on his report card. Nah.
He’s wack, looking like big foot, with his flop ass
LOL NOT A BRANDY STAN CALLING SOMEBODY A FLOP WHEN THAT BYTCH HASN’T SOLD AN ALBUM SINCE LAST CENTURY LOL
Whatever!
It won’t go platinum and Nicki will sell less
I see no lies.
Not FLOPdy and FLOPnica stans coming for someone relevant
This is not a surprise release though. They’ve been talking about an album release for a month. Also, Pharrel’s album released date was put out weeks in advance. The public knew nothing about a Beyonce release. It just happened. She wasn’t releasing album snippets, she just released it.
I’m so happy for him. He’s a true talent. Idc if people call him “boring” (which he’s not). His very relatable and his humility goes a long way! Been a stan since day 1.
Those are really good numbers. It was a surprise announcement with no singles or promotional appearances to support the album. I haven’t listened to it yet but I commend J. Cole for being one of the realist out there.
These numbers are amazing, a hit single will do great things for him also..
What I don’t understand is why the headline reads Debut? Can you guys please explain this? As far as I know this record is far from being his debut lol.
Other than that it’s a pretty lame article.