When Kendrick Lamar moves, the world moves with him. After a whopping five years since the release of his lauded fourth studio album, DAMN., the Compton rapper has finally given listeners the news they’ve been waiting to hear for months: New music is on the way. Announcing the release date for his new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Lamar didn’t share a teaser song or word of a new single with the album news. That record will drop on Ma 13, and it will be Kendrick’s last at his longtime label home, TDE, as he is now expanding into his own company, pgLang.
But none of that seems to have fans worried in the slightest. Even without as much as a teaser for a single, the album’s projection numbers for first-week sales are already massive. The music industry insider blog, Hits Daily Double, has already predicted the record will move over 350,000 copies during its first week. “The forecast is in the vicinity of 350k,” the blog noted, reminding longtime listeners that DAMN. moved almost double that when it was released, around 600,000. All-time sales numbers for DAMN. have now reached 11 million. But for an artist like Kendrick, pure sales come alongside the push from streaming, and that’s what makes this notable.
Since the album is dropping relatively soon, hopeful some preview of it will also be imminent.
