This week has been Drizzy Drake everything, with the official release of Nothing Was The Same and a bunch of promo for it. Drake has not started taking over the charts yet, but that will change next week when we get the results of his first week sales. The projections were revealed this past week, and although many OVO fans were hopeful Drake would reach 1 million in the first week, it seems he doesn't quite have that much power yet. 675-725K are what the projections say, but we'll have to wait and see if he's able to go beyond that number. Nonetheless, the projections alone are an improvement since his last album, Take Care, which moved 631k, and even more so from his debut, which did 447k. Drake is on his way to rap domination, something he doesn't shy away from saying on NWTS. His new-found toughness as well as his determination to sing (no matter what the haters say) is in full effect on his third album. A pre-mature leak found fans praising the LP early on, which could be good for the sales, even if Drake says he doesn't care about them. While 2 Chainz openly admitted he'd be disappointed with low album sales, Drake on the other hand, offered nonchalance when asked about sales, saying he was more excited for the album to leak (!) because then people would actually be hearing the full body of work-- he said he had no expectations for sales. What were your expectations? Do you think the album will be able to surpass 725k? For now check out where MMG enter the charts with Self Made Vol. 3, an album that proved to be a step down from the previous effort.
1) MMG— Self Made Vol. 3: Maybach Music Group’s third compilation effort is now on shelves, although it hasn’t been living up to their past compilations in terms of sales. The album only pushed 50,000 units, while Self Made2 did 98,000 and even Self Made 1 moved 58.9k. Are MMG falling off, or did this album just not live up to expectations? The sales were enough to give them a #4 debut on the Billboard 200.
2) 2 Chainz— B.O.A.T.S. II: #MeTime: Tity Boi’s sophomore effort didn’t come off as strong as he may have hoped on its release, but he’s still holding on. The rapper’s album pushed another 35,000 records off shelves this week, landing above The Weeknd at #7. This brings up Tity 2 Necklace’s total sales to 98k.
3) The Weeknd— Kiss Land: Although The Weeknd debuted much stronger than 2 Chainz, his second week sales aren’t as strong, although they are close. Abel Tesfaye’s debut album sold another 26,000 units this past week, which keeps him within the top 10 at #9. His total sales have now reached 122,000.
4) Robin Thicke— Blurred Lines: Robin Thicke’s album rose two spots up the charts this week, coming in at #12. The singer sold another 18k, after 8 weeks on the charts.
5) John Legend— Love In The Future: John Legend, another r’n’ber on the charts this week. The G.O.O.D. singer dropped three spots this week, down to #13. He sold around 18k, which is a decrease in sales of 39%
6) Jay Z— Magna Carta Holy Grail: Jay Z’s album keeps hanging on, slipping only a few spots every week. This week the rapper falls from #18 to #22, after charting for 11 weeks. He sold another 15,000 copies, with a grand total of 990,000 units.
7) Justin Timberlake—The 20/20 Experience: Justin Timberlake may be debuting a the second installment of this album tomorrow, but the first one still isn’t done charting. We’ll have to wait and see if the second album is as major as the first one when it comes to numbers. The singer sold another 11k this past week, landing at #33, which is down two spots from last week.
8) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis—The Heist: The duo experience another drop on the charts this week. Perhaps they’re finally starting to fall off, although, if it keeps the way it’s been going, it’ll be a long fall. This week The Heist dropped six spots to #30, and sold another 10,000 copies. They’re total sales are now at 1,080,000.
9) Juicy J— Stay Trippy: Juicy J continues to chart, although he dropped several spots from last week’s #28. This week he comes in at #44, after moving 8,000 copies of Stay Trippy. His total sales have now passed the 100k mark though, with 106k.
10) Big Sean— Hall Of Fame: Big Sean is dropping way off the Billboard 200, almost into non-existence, at #75 this week (a drop from #36). The rapper really hasn’t been able to maintain sales with this LP. This week he moved just 5,000 units, making his total sales 104k.
In other news on the Billboard 200, Janelle Monae’s new album Electric Lady sold around 12k this past week and is at #23, right below Hov. Kendrick Lamar’s debut, GKMC, saw another spike in sales, which propelled him from #63 to #58. J. Cole’s Born Sinner comes under HOF this week, at #79, while Kanye West's Yeezus drops to #95.