Update 2 (April 21, 7:26 p.m. EST):

The first-week sales forecast for DAMN. continues to grow, as industry prognosticators now say it's set to sell somewhere between 530-550,000 copies first week. We hear it's closer to 600k, but stay tuned for the final count.

Update (April 19, 5:09 p.m. EST):

Billboard is now reporting that DAMN. is looking at closer to 500,000 first week sales. Drake's More Life had the biggest opening week of sales in 2017 so far with 505,000 units sold.

Original Story:

Kendrick Lamar is on his way to another huge first week win. According to Billboard, the rapper's latest album, titled DAMN., is on pace to sell around 475,000 album equivalent units in its first week of release, which would make it Kung Fu Kenny's third consecutive album to debut at No. 1 on the Top 200 chart.

If these projections hold true, DAMN. will best K. Dot's first week sales for To Pimp a Butterfly, which sold 363,000 copies. untitled. unmastered., which dropped a little under a year later, sold 178,000 copies first week and also debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Only Drake's More Life has topped the current projections for Kenny's new album so far this year.

K. Dot's latest project combines nimble flows, visceral lyrics and dynamic musicality in a way few other rap releases have done in recent times. In a new interview, fellow California native Vince Staples gave the Compton lyricist his vote for best rapper alive.

“Talking about all-time, we can say Michael Jordan is still alive, but he’s not beating LeBron James one-on-one. You talking about right now, it’s Kendrick. Easy,” the Summertime '06 artist said on The Cruz Show. “It’s not even close. Or [it is] Kanye.”

It's hard to define the criteria for "Best Rapper Alive" conversations, but K. Dot is definitely already leaving a legacy in hip-hop. This past weekend, he turned in an electrifying performance at the 2017 Coachella. You can see photos from his performance in our gallery below and footage right here.