This week we find Rick Ross atop on the Billboard 200 with his sixth studio album proving he's still got it. Mastermind managed to sell more than the projected amount, although he didn't quite reach 180k, he moved 179,215 copies. This is still a large enough amount for Rozay to lock down the second-highest debut week total sales for anyone in 2014 thus far. Mastermind is Ross' second straight chart-topping LP, while five out of his six albums have debuted at #1; not too shabby. Pharrell, despite having the #1 single "Happy" tearing up the airwaves, wasn't able to surpass Rozay. He did break the 100k mark, although his debut effort In My Mind from 2006 did bigger numbers (142,000). Our two new entries from last week, ScHoolboy Q and Kid Cudi, have both dropped significantly (Cudder, more so), you can check out exactly where they landed below.
1) Rick Ross—Mastermind: Ricky Rozay makes his debut on the Billboard 200 this week with his sixth studio album, Mastermind. The album seemed to be generally well-received by the fans, and in turn they showed their support for the self-proclaimed Bawse by purchasing the album. Rozay sold 179,215 copies opening week, giving him the coveted #1 Billboard spot.
2) Pharrell— G I R L: Pharrell’s first album since his debut In My Mind followed up Rick Ross by taking the #2 spot on the Billboard 200. While his debut wasn’t quite as strong as Ross, which may come as surprise considering how popular the single “Happy” is, he still surpassed the 100k mark. Pharrell moved 112,534 copies opening week.
3) ScHoolboy Q— Oxymoron: Unfortunately, TDE’s ScHoolboy Q was unable to hold down the #1 spot for two consecutive weeks. This week, the rapper falls down to #8, after his sales dropped by 78%. Groovy Q sold another 30,168 units, which brought his total sales up to 169,118. We’ll have to see how he does in the long run.
4) Ashanti— Braveheart: Ashanti’s return to music, Braveheart, probably didn’t do as well in the first week as the singer would have liked, but nonetheless it managed to debut within the top 10 of the Billboard 200—at #10. The former Murder Inc. signee sold 28,000 copies opening week.
5) Beyonce— Beyonce: Beyonce’s been dominating the Billboard charts ever since her release, although she’s finally fallen out of Billboard’s top 10, sitting at #12 this week. After 13 weeks of charting, Bey sold 25,489 units and her total sales are 1,848,401.
6) Eminem— Marshall Mathers LP 2: Eminem’s been charting for 18 weeks now, and he’s slowly making his way down the Billboard ranks. After sitting at #17 last week, this week Em finds himself at #19. This past week MMLP2 sold 15,000 copies which brought his grand tally to 1,990,000—he’s approaching that 2 million mark soon enough.
7) Drake— Nothing Was The Same: Drizzy Drake fell quite a few spots this week, from #25 to #33. The Toronto native moved under 10k, with 9,700 copies sold. His total sales are 1,500,000, after spending 24 weeks on the charts. He’s down by 11% this week.
8) Jhene Aiko—Sail Out EP: Jhene Aiko is close to her “musical soulmate” (her words) on the charts this week, coming in below Drake at #38, falling from #33. The singer’s EP found new life on the charts recently, while she moved under 9k copies this week, which is down by only 1%.
9) Kid Cudi—Satellite Flight: Cudder experienced an even more severe drop in sales than ScHoolboy Q’s Oxymoron. The album saw a 98% drop in sales, while it descended to #42 on the Billboard 200 after making a debut at #4. This week he sold 8,300 units bringing his total sales to 95,000. Once physical copies of Satellite Flight are out in April, do you think Cudi will spike back up the charts?
10) Kendrick Lamar— good kid, m.A.A.d city: Kendrick Lamar’s debut album has been up and down on the Billboard 200 in the past few months. This week K. Dot dropped less than ten spots to #46, he’s spent 72 weeks charting. His album sold another 7,600 copies, while total sales are 1,207,000.
11) Justin Timberlake—The 20/20 Experience 2: It appears as though people are finally loosing interest in Justin Timberlake’s second instalment of The 20/20 Experience, as the album falls down to #49 from #26 last week. The singer sold 7,105 copies. His total sales are currently 908,461, so despite his descent on the charts, he will probably break the 1 million mark in the near future.
R. Kellz is still charting with Black Panties, which dropped to #51 this week from #34, and sold 6,905 copies (total sales 377,452). This may be the first time we haven’t seen Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist in the main list of charters (!), as the duo fall to #53 this week. They still sold 6,500 copies (total sales 1,366,000). Notorious B.I.G. found himself charting this week as well, it seems many celebrated the anniversary of his death (plus the upcoming anniversary of his birthday) by purchasing a copy of his Greatest Hits album. The album re-entered the Billboard 200 at #54 this week, moving 6,200 copies.
