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Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly appears set for a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, as the rapper’s earlier-than-expected album will have little competition for the top slot next week.

If it holds atop the list, it will be the first album to spend its first two weeks at No. 1 since Taylor Swift’s 1989 ruled atop the tallies dated Nov. 15-Nov. 22, 2014.

Lamar’s album soared in at No. 1 on the April 4-dated chart, with 363,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending March 22, according to Nielsen Music. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the new Billboard 200 chart will be unveiled on April 1.

It’s too early to forecast just how many copies Lamar’s album will move in its second week (ending March 29), but it should have a sizable lead over the rest of the field. (That is, barring a surge from the soundtrack to Empire, which slipped 1-2 on the most recent chart — but was down only a slight 19 percent.)

The highest new entries on next week’s chart could be the new Kidz Bop 28 album and Action Bronson’s Mr. Wonderful. Industry prognosticators suggest they each might tally around 40,000 units. Earl Sweatshirt’s I Don’t Like S**t, I Don’t Go Outside could be the third-biggest debut, as it may start with around 30,000 units. [Billboard]