Hip-Hop superstar T.I.’s Paper Trail is currently set to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 charts this week with over 357,000 albums already sold from last Tuesday till last Friday (October 3).

According to Billboard, the Bankhead, Georgia rapper is expected to easily land atop the charts as rough sums of Tip’s sixth solo project led all other releases yesterday including discs by Robin Thicke and Jennifer Hudson.

Using statistics from major retailers reporting to Nielsen SoundScan consisting of Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Circuit City, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target, Anderson Merchandisers and Handleman Company, the numbers make up for roughly 80 percent of all album sales.

Paper Trail debuting at No. 1 would serve as Tip’s third straight top chart opener as 2006’s King sold 522,000 and 2007’s T.I. vs. T.I.P. panned out at 468,000 in its first week.

Last week, SOHH investigated the success of his album in New York and in his hometown of Atlanta. At a Circuit City location in NY, a sales rep revealed that Paper Trail sold out by 1:30 on Tuesday (September 30) afternoon. “A lot of people were in the store for the album from the time we opened,” the rep told SOHH.

Meanwhile, a mid-town Atlanta Best Buy told SOHH, it was well on its way to clearing the shelves on the day of its release. The store received an influx of calls requesting it and was frequented by fans of the self-proclaimed “King of the South.”

Paper Trail features appearances by Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and more, along with production by DJ Toomp, Swizz Beatz and Kanye West.