This is a pretty eventful Charts Don't Lie, as we were not only anticipating first week sales for the likes of Eminem, Rick Ross, Beyonce and Iggy Azalea, but we're now seeing the streaming initiative from Billboard in full effect. For those unaware, we'll explain real quick. Billboard is now starting to include streaming data into the tallies of album sales, this not only includes album streams but single streams and single sales. So this means 10 digital track sales will equal one album sale, and 1,500 single streams will equal one album sale. This includes streaming data from the major sources like Spotify, iTunes, Beats Music, Google Play etc. This also means a slight change for Charts Don't Lie. Now, after you see the total number of combination streams/sales, you'll also see the tally of regular ol' album sales in brackets afterwards. As for this week's contenders, Eminem comes out on top unsurprisingly, although Rick Ross does surprise us with his final number exceeding projections by quite a bit. We're also see Beyonce x2 and Iggy Azalea x2 this week, thanks to their respective re-releases. See what else went down below.
1) Eminem— Shady XV: Eminem’s fanbase didn’t have enough force to knock Taylor Swift from the #1 spot on Billboard 200 (which she’s occupied for two weeks), however, the Shady XV compilation did manage a #3 debut, selling/streaming 148,000 copies opening week (sales: 138,000).
2) Rick Ross— Hood Billionaire: Further down we find Ricky Rozay’s second album of 2014, Hood Billionaire, which managed a stronger debut than we expected but still not as strong as Mastermind. The album did 79,000 copies in the first week on shelves (sales: 74,000).
3) Beyonce— Beyonce: More Only EP: Beyonce’s another new release on the Billboard 200, with her Platinum Edition of her self-titled album making its debut at #8. The re-release, which included new bonus cuts and footage, did 71,000 opening week (sales: 43,000).
4) Pitbull— Globalization: Okay, Pitbull has almost gone completely pop, but nonetheless let’s see how his new LP did. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 this week at #18. Nothing crazy, but not too shabby either. The album pulled out with 48,692 (sales:38,177)
5) Iggy Azalea— Reclassified: Iggy also released a re-release of her debut album, and while The New Classic continues to charts futher down, Reclassified makes a debut at #27. The album’s number of streams and sales reached 33,638 opening week (sales: 13,813).
6) Beyonce— Beyonce: Beyonce finds herself x2 on Charts this week, with the OG Beyonce album rising way up on the Billboard 200 from #199 last week to #39 this week. That’s quite a feat after charting for 51 weeks-- the re-release of her album is apparently to blame. The sales/streams equaled 24,922 (sales: 21,904). Total sales for Beyonce are at 2,128,000
7) T.I.— Paperwork: Tip sees a slight rise this week, with Paperwork climbing from #50 to #44. The Hustle Gang leader saw his streams and sales combination reach 21,795 (sales: 17,050) while total sales are 158,411.
8) Chris Brown— X: Chris Brown comes in below T.I., although X still made a climb this week coming in at #48. After charting for 11 weeks, the album was able to do some damage with 20,469 units of stream/sales (sales: 13,583). Breezy’s total sales are 287,294.
9) Pharrell— G I R L: Skateboard P makes a re-entry on the Billboard 200 this week, at #67. The singer and sometimes rapper was able to do 14,807 (sales: 11,328) with his grand tally at 1,179,857.
10) Iggy Azalea— The New Classic: Another second appearance on the charts this week, from Ms. Iggy. Her debut album saw a spike this week, rising from #106 to #70, after charting for 32 weeks. This week she did 14,155 (sales: 13,637) while her total sales reached 423,486.
On the Hot 100 singles chart, Usher and Juicy J rise way up 41 spots to #54 with "I Don't Mind." We're seeing DeJ Loaf's break-out single "Try Me" climbs up 1 spot to #46. O.T. Genasis makes a crazy climb with "CoCo" landing at #38, reflecting on the song's sudden rise in popularity. Iggy Azalea's Reclassified single "Beg For It" comes in at #29, up 6 spots. Beyonce makes an entrance with the new record "7/11" at #18. After making a climb, Big Sean's "I Don't Fuck With You" starts to drop, falling 4 spots to #15 this week.
