Last week we discussed the new effort from Beyonce which made waves in the internet over night, selling an astounding 80,000 units in just three hours. Apart from breaking an iTunes record, the album is well on its way to platinum, following the #newrules of her husband Jay Z. Bey surpassed her past record for first week sales, and it's possible that she'll maintain the #1 spot two weeks in a row-- a feat Jay Z accomplished with MCHG as well. Being able to keep such a massive project a secret is phenomenal in and of itself, given the industry Beyonce is in, people tend to talk-- but Bey managed to keep everyone's mouth shut, thus the shock & awe tactic was in effect when Beyonce dropped, so her loyal BeyHive fans flocked to iTunes where it dropped exclusively to purchase the project. While that move seems to have hurt the feelings of retailers Target and Amazon, it's likely Bey will not miss their sales. While Beyonce's album did take over, we have to mention R. Kelly and Childish Gambino, both of whom debuted on the Billboard 200 this week. Childish's Because The Internet benefited from almost double the sales of his last album-- definitely a good look, and a good sign, for the rapper as he attempts to break into the mainstream (is he attempting, actually?). Check out where he landed on the charts along with Kellz and others below.
1) Beyonce— Beyonce: As you might know by now, Bey moved large amounts of her self-titled visual album over the course of a week. After releasing it exclusively online for the first few days, she sold 617,000 copies. This is her biggest opening week to date, surpassing the sales of her album B’Day which did 514,000 units in 2006. All five of Beyonce’s solo albums have hit #1 upon their release, and Beyonce is no different. It’s also looking like Bey will keep the #1 spot locked two weeks in a row, but check back next week for an update on that front.
2) R.Kelly— Black Panties: While R. Kelly’s new album Black Panties moved respectable numbers, it got a bit side-tracked thanks to Queen Bey. The self-proclaimed Cookie Monster moved 134,000 copies during his opening week, making for a Billboard 200 debut at #4. The album has received some mixed reviews though, so we’ll have to see how well it does in the long run.
3) Childish Gambino— Because The Internet: Donald Glover’s album has almost doubled the first week sales of his last release, Camp (which did 52k in 2011), and along with that double of sales comes more positive reviews of his second effort. Childish didn’t quite reach the 100k mark however, moving 96,000 units. He lands at #7 for his debut, which is not too shabby for the Glass Note Records rapper.
4) Eminem— The Marshall Mathers LP 2: Eminem remains strong on the Billboard 200, dropping just two spots from last week’s #6 to this week’s #8. The Detroit native sold another 83,000 units of MMLP2, bringing his total sales up to 1,490,000.
5) Drake— Nothing Was The Same: Drake had a relatively low-key week on the Billboard 200, as NWTS only fell one spot to #24. He moved 28,000 units, with his total sales at 1,259,000.
6) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience 2: JT pushed out 24k copies of his album this week, while falling from #24 to #27. Nonetheless, the singer experienced at 13% increase in his sales, and the total sales for the 2nd 20/20 Experience are 681,000.
7) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis— The Heist: Will these dudes still be charting come 2014? It appears that may very well be the case. This week they rose up on the Billboard 200 from #68 to #66. The duo sold 11,000 units, which brought up their total sales to 1,193,000.
8) Yo Gotti— I Am: Yo Gotti continues his drop down the charts. After four weeks of charting Gotti has slipped to #76. The rapper still moved 10,000 copies, with his grand tally at 89,000.
9) 2 Chainz— B.O.A.T.S. II: #METime: Tity Boi is now in the 100 range on the Billboard 200, with #METime falling down to #107. The rapper moved 7,900 copies over the past week. His total sales are 203,000.
10) E-40— The Block Brochure: Welcome To The Soil 4,5,6: E-40 released his three CD album The Block Brochure recently, which managed to debut on the Billboard 200 (although each album has a different debut). Welcome To The Soil 4 snagged the highest spot (which is still pretty low) at #136, while 5 comes in at #140 and 6 at #151.
Jhene Aiko’s time on the Billboard 200 looks like it may be coming to an end soon enough, as Sail Out dropped to #114 this week. Jay Z’s MCHG and Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city find themselves in the same boat as Jhene, even further down the Billboard 200 though. Jay comes in at #155, selling 6k, while Kendrick is at #191, moving 5k this week (his total sales are 1,109,000). Kanye West’s Yeezus comes in at #173 after having a spurt up to #76 last week.