It’s no magic trick; the ‘Houdini‘-led album from Dua Lipa, the May 3-released ‘Radical Optimism,‘ was already believed to be on its way to being the week’s highest-selling new project based on industry analysts’ first set of predictions unveiled late last week.
Now, thanks to a promotional onslaught that’s included a highly publicized stint on ‘SNL‘ as well as high-profile print, radio, Web, and TV appearances, the GRAMMY-winning diva is en route to marking a personal milestone with the LP’s arrival to the Billboard 200.
Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’
Predicted First-Week Sales (SPS): 68,000 units
Predicted Billboard 200 Debut: #3
Outpacing its original projected performance by 3,000 copies, should the 68,000 units sold prediction above ring true it will top the 66,000-sold opening of the ‘Optimism’ predecessor – 2020’s ‘Future Nostalgia’ – and mark the British beauty’s best first-week sales performance in the United States to date.
Further, the forecasted #3 premiere will also come as her highest debut on the Billboard 200 yet (besting the #4 arrival of ‘Nostalgia’).
Despite being set to enter next week’s all-genre album chart as the week’s top-selling new project (and mark a personal milestone for Lipa along the way), the numbers still won’t be enough to unseat mega-seller Taylor Swift from a third week atop the Billboard tally with her latest smash ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’
Morgan Wallen‘s 2023 album, ‘One Thing at a Time,‘ is projected to rebound to #2 on the refreshed Billboard 200 which will be revealed on Sunday (May 12).