Janet Jackson Will Debut At No. 1 With ‘Unbreakable,’ But Is Expected To Take Gigantic Drop Next Week

Janet Jackson’s well-reviewed album Unbreakable will debut at No. 1 on Billboard‘s next album chart. Hits Daily Double, which tracks album sales, has the news.

“BMG/Rhythm Nation’s Janet Jackson has topped the HITS Album Sales Chart with 106k and the Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart with 112k for her 11th studio album (and first in seven years), Unbreakable. It’s been a good week for Jackson considering that she was also just announced as a nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 2016 ceremony.”

Billboard‘s final numbers are always a little more or a little less than those of Hits Daily Double. There is no doubt that Janet Jackson should be celebrating. She has, by far, beaten first-week album sales by such peers as Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. However, she has failed to match Madonna’s first week of sales for Rebel Heart, which sold 121,000 album equivalents during its first week of release, despite being available for free for nearly three months. The media, who declared Madonna an old “flop” when her record sales were announced, will likely praise Janet Jackson for her sales — this should lead to an interesting analysis.

Janet Jackson may not want to celebrate her newfound success too much; Unbreakable appears to be headed towards one of the biggest second-week sales drops in years. The album has already dropped to No. 15 on iTunes and it has only been one day into the new sales week. It doesn’t help that Unbreakable has failed to launch a mainstream hit single. “No Sleeep” peaked at No. 66 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 (although it has done well on the Adult R&B chart) and the follow-up singles have failed to make the Hot 100. Still, many people feel that Unbreakable is Janet’s best album in years. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a “B+.”

“Unlike contemporaries like Mariah Carey, Janet strikes a solid balance between innovation and dependability, bridging past and future better than most—including her legendary sibling.”

Pitchfork, which is usually harsh when reviewing superstars, gave the album a rating of 8/10.

“This ability to synthesize what music needs instead of catering to its whims is what has made Janet Jackson an enduring pop star. Unlike Madonna, whose presence and work open up much-needed conversations about sexuality, commodity, and the gendered age biases of pop music, Jackson, 49, exposes these conventions as construct.”

Based on reviews, Janet Jackson has captured something she hasn’t since the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” of 2004 — critical acclaim. Last decade, Janet’s career took a huge dump as she went from being a superstar into a super joke. Her albums Damita Jo, 20 Y.O., and Discipline were mega-flops, though there are many who argue that the quality of these albums was actually pretty good. There are also many who argue that Janet Jackson was unfairly blacklisted after the Super Bowl controversy.

Even if Unbreakable drops like a brick next week, Janet Jackson is in the process of successfully re-branding herself. She was just announced as a nominee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and is currently doing her Unbreakable World Tour. Though box office results haven’t been announced for any of the dates, the fact that Live Nation keeps adding dates means that Janet must be doing pretty well on the road. It’s a tough time to be an aging pop star, but Janet Jackson appears to be handling it very well.

[Feature photo by Alexander Tamargo / Getty Images Entertainment]