Popcaan‘s latest album Great Is He has landed at No. 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, lower than the opening week debuts of his previous four studio albums.
While the Levels deejay is undoubtedly one of the most successful Dancehall artists of the era, the new album—his third under Drake’s OVO Sound—has registered a significant 64% drop in first-week performance compared to his previous release FIXTAPE.
Released on January 27, the 17-track Great Is He sold 3,200 units in sales and streaming in the United States during its first week, according to data provided to DancehallMag from Billboard’s sales tracker Luminate.
This figure includes 300 copies in pure album sales.
Luminate also revealed that Great Is He has so far sold a total of 13,900 units over its lifetime. That figure includes digital sales and streaming equivalent units from the five singles that were released prior to the album drop last week.
The first single, Skeleton Cartier, was released on March 4, 2022, followed by Next to Me with former Miss World Toni-Ann Singh on November 30, 2022, and Set It on December 16, 2022. The fourth single and lead track, We Caa Done with Drake, was released on January 6, 2023, while Great Is He, the fifth single and title track, was released on January 20, 2023.
We Caa Done peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, No. 36 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, and No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart.
The album, which DancehallMag rated 3/5 in its review, also featured Burna Boy on Aboboyaa, and Chronic Law on St. Thomas Native.
The production credits included long-time collaborators Dane Ray, Anju Blaxx, Dre Skull, and TJ Records, among others.
Great Is He is Popcaan’s fifth entry on the weekly Billboard Reggae Albums chart since he began his music career in the late 2000s.
FIXTAPE, his fourth studio album, peaked at No. 2 on the Reggae chart and also cracked the Billboard 200 chart with a significant showing at No. 94 after raking in sales of approximately 8,800 total units with streaming during its first week of release in 2020.
The 19-track album, released under OVO Sound, was ranked at No. 14 on Billboard’s Year End Reggae Albums chart of 2021, after it moved over 34,000 units that year.
FIXTAPE’s pre-released singles were Friends Like These, Mamakita, Jealousy Die Slow, and Retribution.
Vanquish, his first project under OVO Sound in 2019, had also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae chart.
His sophomore album Forever, released under the auspices of Dre Skull’s Mixpak Records, entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 171 and had also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Reggae albums chart in 2018.
Where We Come From, his debut under Mixpak Records, peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart in 2014.