Eminem week officially hit us with full force. We've seen legendary rappers like Jay Z and Kanye West both drop albums this past year, but none compared to the chart domination of Slim Shady. As we mentioned last week, a few of Em's old albums had popped back up on the Billboard 200, presumably due to anticipation for new one, MMLP2. Well, this past week, that was taken to the next level, with every single Eminem album re-appearing on the Billboard 200 (apart from the independently-released debut Infinite). And as if Em needed it, he still pushed 792,000 units off his new effort, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. It's crazy to think about Eminem's mainstream power, but it also makes you wonder, who are all these people copping all his old albums? Young/new fans? Or old heads who just want to show support? The album may not be hailed as Eminem's best effort, but regardless, we'll be seeing it on Charts Don't Lie for months to come. Check out how everyone else fared this past week below.
1) Eminem— Marshall Mathers LP 2: There wasn’t very much doubt that Eminem would do huge numbers opening week, even with an album leak (that’s just life nowadays). Em came through, and did higher than projected, in the first week MMLP2 was on shelves. The rapper pushed 792,000 units opening week, thus debuting at #1, and kicking out Drake for the second biggest opening week this year (behind Justin Timberlake only). This also gives Em his seventh consecutive #1 album—if you’re wondering, the only album from Em to not debut at #1 was the Slim Shady LP in 1999. Eminem will be on his way to platinum in no time.
2) Drake— Nothing Was The Same: Drizzy falls down to #7 on the Billboard 200 this week, dropping two spots since last week. The rapper still moved 37,000 units, which is a drop in sales of only 3%. Drake’s grand total has now surpassed a million, making the LP platinum-- 1,066,000 units sold.
3) Justin Timberlake—The 20/20 Experience 2: This second instalment from JT definitely isn’t holding on as strongly as the first was. This week Justin fell to #15 from #13, after charting for six weeks. He sold around 20k this week.
4) Lecrae— Church Clothes Vol. 2: Lecrae released this project for free the other week, but there was also a retail/non-DJ version, which debuted on the Billboard 200 this week. Surprisingly enough, Lecrae nabbed a #21 debut, and moved over 9k, which definitely is not too shabby for the independent rapper.
5) M.I.A.— Matangi: Below Lecrae we find female rapper M.I.A., with her album Matangi debuting at #23. She moved 12,424 units of the LP.
6) Eminem—The Marshall Mathers LP: Last week we saw that The Marshall Mathers LP had made it’s way back on to the Billboard 200, way down at #106. This week it’s sky-rocketed up to #30 and sold a respectable 10,000 units. Pretty crazy considering that’s one some rappers do opening week for a new album. The total sales for this album which dropped ten years ago are 10,766,000.
7) John Legend— Love In The Future: John Legend dropped by 7% in sales this week, selling 8k copies of his album. The singer dropped just under 10 spots, and is now sitting at #44.
8) Robin Thicke— Blurred Lines: Robin Thicke followed in the footsteps of John Legend, not only down the charts but sales-wise, the singer also sold around 8k. Robin sits at #47 after 36 weeks of charting.
9) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis— The Heist: Whenever you think these boys are falling off the charts, they somehow climb back up. This week the duo only saw a small climb, from #53 to #50. After 57 weeks of being on the Billboard 200, The Heist pushed out 8,000 units, making for total sales of 1,132,000.
10) Eminem—The Eminem Show: Last week we saw that The Eminem Show was at #100, and this week the album continues to chart (along with every other Eminem album) and comes in at #58. The old release still sold 7,000 units, bringing the grand tally for the LP up to 10,270,000. It’s crazy to think that just by releasing a new album (for which we’re sure he’ll be sufficiently compensated), Eminem made a bunch more money off his old albums.
Eminem basically took over the charts this week, as mentioned before, so a lot of other rappers got pushed out of the way, even Jay Z. Eminem's Recovery actually sits atop Hov's MCHG this week, with Recovery at #64 and MCHG falling to #65 from #50. Jay still sold 6k though. At #94 is Curtain Call, pushing 5k this week, and below that is The Slim Shady LP at #115, with 4k. Eminem's Encore shows up at #158, having moved 3k, Relapse did the same amount and sits at #159. Back to someone else who isn't Eminem though-- Pusha T's MNIMN suffered a steep drop from #44 to #87, while DJ Khaled had an even steeper drop from #29 to #99. The Weeknd had a successful week though, as Kiss Land flew back up the charts, from #130 last week to #67.