UPDATED 3/24, 5:15 p.m. ET:Updated numbers have arrived. The Weeknd's new After Hours album will debut at No. 1 with a massive 400-425k album equivalent units, according to HitsDailyDouble. Childish Gambino's 3.15.20is excepted to debut at No. 11 with 25-28k album equivalent units after being released on Sunday while J. Balvin's Colores is looking to land at No. 14 with 22-25k units.
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The Weeknd is expected to score another No. 1 album.
According to early projections reported by HitsDailyDouble, Abel's sixth studio album After Hours, is on track to move more than 400,000 album equivalent units in its first week. Of those units, more than 200,000 are expected to come from traditional album sales. If these projections hold true, After Hours could very well land the biggest debut of 2020, surpassing BTS' Map of the Soul: 7, which earned 422,000 units in its first week.
HDD points out that these projections are especially notable considering the health crisis sweeping the globe. Though social distancing practices and stay-at-home orders would presumably increase streams, Quartz reports that there has been some declines in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
By comparison, The Weeknd's 2013 album Kiss Land debuted at No. 2 with 92,000 units; 2015's Beauty Behind the Madness took the stop with 412,000 units in first-week sales; 2016's Starboy also debuted at No. 1 with 348,000 units; and his 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy topped the charts with 169,000 units in its first week.
According to HDD, After Hours garnered 100 million global streams on day one, occupied the top 12 slots on the Apple Music Global 100 chart, and claimed 14 of the top 15 spots on Spotify's U.S. chart.
The Weeknd has also teamed up with Postmates to help combat the spread of COVID-19. The delivery service has launched a special edition of its blog series The Receipt, which lays out some of The Weeknd's order history. "As part of this special edition of The Receipt, Postmates will be donating to the United Nations Foundation COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund," the company wrote in a press release. "[The donation will] support health workers on the frontlines, maintain intensive care units, and accelerate research and development of vaccines and therapeutics."
