The spike in album sales we saw accompany the Grammys and Valentine's Day has now subsided, with overall album sales having decreased by 20% over the week. Nonetheless our charts are staying pretty consistent: two female stars continue gripping onto the top spots of Charts Don't Lie, while their male counterparts take spots beneath them. While many artists decreased in album sales this week, the independent phenom that is Macklemore was one of the few to increase sale-wise. What is to blame for Macklemore's increase in LP sales this week? It's not "Thrift Shop" this time, but perhaps commercializing his song "Wing$" for a NBA All-Star spot. Here's where the independent vs. commercial gets tricky, as Macklemore has always been an advocate of the former, so some fans were angry with the use of the song and found it hypocritical. What do you guys think? Big ups to Macklemore or should he have stuck with what he propounds?
1) Rihanna—Unapologetic: As much as we wish Rihanna would vacate this spot, it’s likely we’ll still be seeing her on Charts Don’t Lie for some time to come. The Barbados beauty dropped 30% in sales over the past week, as did a lot pretty much everyone else. She nonetheless climbed to the #8 spot this week, keeping herself in the top 10 on the Billboard 200.
2) Alicia Keys—Girl On Fire: AK has become our other female mainstay on Charts, with Girl On Fire rising yet again this week from #24 to #15, (although she still saw that decrease in sales percentage) selling 22,489 copies for her RCA record label.
3) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis—The Heist: Although receiving backlash from some fans for licensing their song "Wing$" for an NBA All-Star Weekend commercial, the song placement may have done their album sales some good. The duo chart at #16 this week, that’s up from last week with 21,454 units moved.
4) Kendrick Lamar—good kid, m.A.A.d city: K. Dot recently revealed that he has not started to work on his second album yet, and really, he doesn’t need too, seeing as GKMC is still charting and moving a solid amount of units. This week the debut album from the Aftermath signee sits at #22 with 16k sold.
5) A$AP Rocky—Long.Live.A$AP: Another strong album coming out of RCA is A$AP Rock’s debut, which sold 13,162 over the week. That’s almost half the amount it sold last week though, giving it #35 on the charts.
6) The Weeknd—Trilogy: The Weeknd’s three-disc album, Trilogy, did surprisingly well (or not, if you know the XO fanbase) for a re-release when it first dropped. Now it’s climbed up the charts to land at #52 (up ten spots from last week), after fifteen weeks on the Billboard 200. What do you think accounted for the increase?
Honorable mentions this week: T.I's Trouble Man hasn’t been a ‘force to reckon with’ on the charts, but it’s still staying in the top 50 of the Billboard 200 week after week. This week its at #43 with 11k in album sales. R’n’b sensation Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dream saw a decrease from last week, sitting at #45 with 10k in sales. Finally, everyone’s favorite, 2 Chainz’ debut album Based On A T.R.U. Story (yes, it’s still charting after 28 weeks on the Billboard 200) saw an increase to the #60 spot from last week.