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Travis Scott's 'UTOPIA' On Pace To Hit No. 1 On Billboard 200 Chart
Travis Scott continues to dominate as his latest album, UTOPIA, is predicted to bring in significant first-week numbers. According to Hits Daily Double and DJ Akademiks, industry insiders suggested that the project could accrue around 245,000 to 275,000 streaming equivalent album units from streams within its first seven days.
However, the numbers don’t consider pure sales, which could well exceed 200,000 units given the buzz around the LP’s merchandise and zine bundles available on Scott’s website. Its anticipation was further fueled by the choice of five unique pieces of cover art that fans can select from during the checkout process.
When Billboard updated its eligibility rules in May, the publication reinstated certain forms of merchandise bundle sales in chart position calculations. Under the new regulations, artists can offer two distinct “fan bundle” variations, including a physical copy of the release and a piece of merchandise.
Travis Scott – Utopia on pace to sell 275K first week (Without Bundles) – Bundles expected to be +250k range
— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) July 29, 2023
Btw… bundles are expected to count for Travis Scott… his range currently is about 500K first week overall (Bundles included)
— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) July 29, 2023
With these numbers, UTOPIA could very well surpass half a million sales. There’s also the possibility that it could top Scott’s previous body of work, Astroworld, which debuted with 538,000 album-equivalent units in 2018. The project secured the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, marking the second-highest sales week of the year, following only behind Drake’s Scorpion.
Over the weekend, RapCaviar reported that the LP garnered over 128 million streams on Spotify on its first day, solidifying it as the biggest debut of 2023 and the fifth-largest of all time.
In addition to its pre-release single “K-POP” and comparisons to Kanye West’s work, the LP notably featured an impressive list of guests. It included music industry giants like Drake, Future, Beyoncé, Playboi Carti, The Weeknd, 21 Savage, Young Thug, SZA, Kid Cudi, Bad Bunny, and Westside Gunn.
However, the rapper’s special concert intended to launch UTOPIA at the Pyramids of Giza was called off just two days prior due to concerns from the Egyptian General Syndicate for Musical Professions. The committee shared concerns about the potential clash of Scott’s concert rituals with the country’s cultural values. Meanwhile, Live Nation chalked it up to “complex production issues” on July 26.
A message from Live Nation: pic.twitter.com/s05YWOVkpG
— Live Nation Middle East (@LiveNationME) July 26, 2023