Many fans didn’t see this coming.
The massive commercial success of Kendrick Lamar’s GNX should come as no surprise, even if its release was just that. After all, he’s one of the biggest rappers in the game and just came off of a championship year following his victorious battle with Drake. But even the most hardcore K.Dot fans thought that his first week sales projections for this new album would stay steady at just under the 300K album-equivalent units mark. However, according to new reports, the album’s sales projections now indicate numbers between 310K and 325K first week, which is very interesting news. It seems like more and more people are tuning in and revisiting the tracklist.
Also, we assume that physical sales for GNX also contribute to these new projections, and will likely maintain some solid momentum for the LP in the weeks to come. Also, Kendrick Lamar might land multiple cuts off the album on the Billboard Hot 100 amid a lot of streaming success and radio play, although it’s far too early to tell at this point. Maybe some fans are just reaching with the numbers, but either way, the project’s performed very well.
Kendrick Lamar’s Updated GNX Sales Projections
Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” is now projected to sell 310k-325k first week 📈 pic.twitter.com/1ZSuqlsAwk
— HotNewHipHop (@HotNewHipHop) November 28, 2024
Of course, any conversation around Kendrick Lamar and sales right now has a whole lot of baggage and legal tension behind it. Drake filed a petition that basically announced plans to sue Universal Music Group and Spotify for allegedly colluding to artificially boost the sales of “Not Like Us,” which the Toronto rapper claims also makes their label (as he and Kendrick are both on UMG) and the streaming service liable for defamation. It’s a pretty anti-hip-hop move in the traditional sense and an anti-industry benchmark in another, but neither excuse fully explains the controversy behind it.
But that whole debacle falls outside of the scope of Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, a project that its collaborators like Peysoh are very excited to reflect on. Fans are loving it, it’s making a big splash, and it hasn’t even been out a week yet. It’s been an amazing year to be a Kendrick Lamar fan, and with his Super Bowl halftime show coming soon, it might be an amazing 2025, too.
