This week we're finding several new entries in the Billboard 200, although nothing took over the #1 spot. Keyshia Cole actually comes out on top this week, debuting at #9, moving 25,000 copies opening week. Her album dropped around the same time she got in the news for assaulting a Cash Money employee, which leads us to ask, publicity stunt or nah?. Tinashe competed with Keyshia, although she ultimately fell short, debuting at #17. Childish Gambino is worth a mention here, as the rapper managed to sell more copies of his new KAUAI EP in the second week than the first week. After moving 16,000 copies in his opening week, he topped that this week, moving just over 19,000-- given the fact that he didn't really promote the EP prior, the news most likely spread by word of mouth (aka the internet), which is pretty impressive. Experimental producer Flying Lotus also impresses us with his Billboard 200 debut, moving 17,000 copies of You're Dead! opening week-- that's just 2,000 copies less than Tinashe, which is worth noting because Flying Lo dropped his album via an independent label, Warp Records, and Tinashe did it through a major label, RCA.
1) Keyshia Cole— Point Of No Return: Keyshia Cole slides within the Billboard 200’s top 10 this week, making a debut at #9 with her sixth studio album Point of No Return. The album sold just as much as projected, with 25,000 units sold opening week. Will she be able to hold on to a top spot though?
2) Childish Gambino— KAUAI EP: Childish Gambino’s commercial EP, the second part of a two-part concept project, STN MTN/KAUAI, debuted on the Billboard at #18. Childish has managed to out-do that ranking this week, climbing up two spots to #16. This week he sold another 19,317 copies of KAUAI, bringing the total sales to 35,485—not bad for absolutely no prior warning and very little promotion.
3) Tinashe— Aquarius: Tinashe didn’t quite beat fellow r’n’b singer Keyshia Cole, but all in due time, as this was her first full-length album. Aquarius managed to debut at #17, after moving 19,000 records opening week.
4) Flying Lotus— You’re Dead!: This week we find experimental producer Flying Lotus make his Billboard 200 at #19. His album (or rather, proclamation) You’re Dead! sold 17,000 units this past week.
5) Chris Brown— X: Chris Brown drops more than ten spots this week, after sitting comfortably at #9 last week, he finds himself at #21. After charting for four weeks with X, the singer moved another 16,429 copies, with total sales now reaching 222,609.
6) Prince—Art Official Age: Prince’s new solo effort debuted last week ar #5 but likely won’t be able to hold on too long, and this week we see the start of that as Prince plummets to #22. He still sold 15,013 copies, and brought his total sales up to 66,016.
7) Lecrae— Anomaly: Lecrae’s Anomaly isn’t going anywhere too quickly, this week the album fell a few spots from #28 only to land at #35. After five weeks of charting, the rapper sold just under 10k, 9,356 copies this week. His total sales are 158,688.
8) Jeezy— Seen It All: Jeezy comes in right below Lecrae this week, with Seen It All arriving at #36, a drop from #29 (him and Lecrae seem to be following each other down the charts). The Snowman has been charting for six weeks, and pushed out another 9,244 copies. His grand total is currently 211,342.
9) Prince—PLECTRUMELECTRUM: Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL’s collaborative LP makes a drop this week as well, coming in below Art Official Age at #47. In its second week on shelves, Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL sold 7,046 copies. Total sales are 33,406.
10) John Legend— Love In The Future: We’re never quite able to get rid of G.O.O.D. Music singer John Legend. Love In The Future keeps fluctuating up and down on the charts, but after hitting #101 last week Legend soars back up this week to #55. The album sold 6,045 units, with total sales now at 636,512.
We've been keeping you afloat on rap singles that are charting lately, so to continue that trend, Big Sean's "I Don't Fuck With You" continues to climb up the Hot 100, making a 10-spot leap up this week to #68. T.I.'s Paperwork single "About The Money" has been charting on Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, and this week reaches #58. Rae Sremmurd's "No Type" is also rising, 5 spots up to #51. Meanwhile Chris Brown's single "New Flame" rises up 2 spots to #27. Further above that we find Bobby Shmurda, whose radio-friendly version of "Hot Nigga," now "Hot Boy" sits at #10 after charting for 11 weeks. Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" though is beginning to slip, falling a few spots to #8. Finally, Iggy Azalea's "Black Widow" with Rita Ora comes in at #3 on the Hot 100, remaining stagnant from last week after charting for 15 weeks.