First Week Sales Predictions For Nicki Minaj’s “The Pinkprint” Are In

 New York rapper Nicki Minaj has been promoting her new album for nearly a year. The Pinkprint has finally hit stores, and the third official offering from Young Money’s First Lady is leaning toward low opening week sales for Nicki’s standards.

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According to HitsDailyDouble, The Pinkprint is predicted to move 170,000-180,000 units (including streams) in its initial week. Those numbers are less than the first week totals for Nicki’s previous albums. Her 2010 LP Pink Friday opened with 375,000 units, and 2012’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded came out the gate with 253,000 copies.
However, a 170,000-180,000 range is in line with other major Hip Hop releases in 2014. Rick Ross’ Mastermind (179,000), Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron (139,000), Shady Record’s Shady XV (138,000), and Jeezy’s Seen It All (121,000) all came in under the 200,000 mark first week.
The one exception is J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive which outsold predictions to open with 360,000 units – the best sales week for a rap album this year and the best sales week of Cole’s career. That landed the Roc Nation emcee his third number one album.
The HDD numbers are not final. The official sales numbers for Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint will be announced next week.