There's a reason why the "platinum with no features" meme took off after J. Cole dropped 2014 Forest Hills Drive: dude can move units. It looks like that streak will continue with 4 Your Eyez Only, as Billboard projects Cole's latest effort will move around 550,000 units in its first week. Of that total, 360,000 to 380,000 will be in traditional sales.
To put that into perspective, only two albums have had a higher first week total this year: Drake's Views (1.04 million) and Beyoncé's Lemonade (653,000). The 550,000 mark would easily pass 2014 Forest Hills Drive as Cole's highest first week total, which bowed at 371,000 in December two years ago.
Of course, that final tally would also handily take the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, making 4 Your Eyez Only Cole's fourth consecutive album to hit No. 1. It will also count as his third to debut at No. 1: Born Sinner debuted at No. 2 before hitting the top slot in its third week of release.
J. Cole has yet to do any press around 4 Your Eyez Only. Aside from a 40-minute doc, the most we've gotten from him so far has been a tweet on album release night. And he's about to do over half a milli first week. Incredible, to say the least.
Complex did recently catch up with Elite, co-executive producer of 4 Your Eyez Only, to get some insight into the making of the project. Elite also shared a wild story behind what inspired "Neighbors," which you can read here. 4 Your Eyez Only is available on iTunes.
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