Kid Ink's sophomore effort hit the Billboard 200 this week, although it didn't perform quite as well as his debut My Own Lane. My Own Lane pushed 50,000 copies out opening week, which was deemed a strong release, especially for an independently-signed rapper's debut. However, Full Speed moved less than 40k opening week. The album itself is exactly what you expect to hear from Ink, with a lot of radio potential, and top tier features. So what's lacking here? Perhaps once one of his many singles takes off it'll translate into a sales boost. Joey Bada$$'s debut, B4.DA.$$ has fallen off rather quickly. He doesn't appear to be a rapper who cares about sales anyways, but he dropped way down to #74 from #41 last week. This where you see the contrast between an album like B4.DA.$$ and SremmLife. SremmLife is geared to the mainstream and youth, and some might say B4.DA.$$ is geared to the exact opposite (and that's not a bad thing). However, Rae Sremmurd's debut is still holding on at #31. Moving on to some veterans in the rap game, we're finding Missy Elliott return to the charts after her recent Super Bowl half-time performance. The performance had most of us itching for new music from Missy, but with no new music available, fans returned to her old albums which basically still sound as fresh as any of the content new rappers are putting out these days. Under Construction, The Cookbook and Miss E...So Addictive all charted on the 200 this week.
1) Nicki Minaj— The Pinkprint: Nicki stays stagnant this week, keeping her #8 spot all to herself. The Pinkprint is in its eighth week on the Billboard 200, and shipped out/streamed another 47,686 units (sales are just half that: 20,560). Her total sales number is up to 487,013.
2) Mark Ronson— Uptown Special: Ronson’s new album slides down to #11 this week, after peaking at #5. The singer/songwriter is charting so high on the Billboard 200 largely due to his streams, and not his sales. His combined stream and sales number this week is 42,780 (sales: 6,258). His total sales are 86,000.
3) Kid Ink— Full Speed: Further down, we find Kid Ink’s debut on the Billboard 200 with Full Speed. Tha Alumni rapper’s sophomore album managed an entry at #14, after selling 37,243 copies opening week (sales: 28,547).
4) Ne-Yo—Non-Fiction: We saw the r’n’b singer debut last week at #5. This week Non-Fiction slips more than a few spots, down to #16. Ne-Yo moved another 27,287 (sales:18,744) while his grand tally is 67,410 units.
5) J. Cole— 2014 Forest Hills Drive: Cole drops down to #19 this week, after charting for nine weeks. The rapper is definitely taking his time climbing down the Billboard 200. His number this week is largely composed of just sales, further proving that this album is a big success. He moved 26,066 (sales: 17,485), while his total sales are 745,725.
6) Rae Sremmurd— SremmLife: Rae Sremmurd dropped just a few spots since last week. This week they rest at #31, and earned a lot of single/album streams. They moved 14,782, with a fraction of that being actual album sales (sales: 4,745). The boys’ total sales are at 64,100.
7) Beyonce— Beyonce: Beyonce’s never down for too long, and after Kanye West’s Grammy move the other week, she’ll likely see a rise in sales for a minute. This week she soars back up from #55 to #33. She had a combined sales and streams of 14,512 units (sales: 5,759). Her total sales are currently 2,210,000.
8) Skizzy Mars— The Red Balloon Project: Here’s a rapper you might not have been expecting to see on Charts this week. Skizzy Mars enters the Billboard 200 with his recent EP at #35. The Red Balloon Project moved 13,632 copies this week (sales: 12,739).
9) Missy Elliott—Under Construction: Yep, Missy made a return to the Billboard 200 following her appearance at the Super Bowl. As we already know, that performance helped raise both her Spotify streams and iTunes sales quite significantly—not only that, but 2002’s Under Construction (which featured the track “Gossip Folks” has moved another 12,423 copies this week (sales:2,389). Her total sales are 867,856. Now we really do need that Missy comeback!
On the Hot 100 singles chart, Kanye West’s “Only One” with Paul McCartney is down one at #69. Nicki Minaj & Beyonce’s “Feeling Myself” is also down a notch at #61. However, Fetty Wap’s extremely catchy “Trap Queen” rose up 12 spots to #60, while J. Cole “Apparently” did the same, up 7 spots to #58. Big Sean enters with “Blessings” at #54, which we’ll definitely continue to see rise up. Chris Brown and Tyga’s “Ayo” soars up, making a 21-spot leap to #36, while Missy Elliott re-enters right on top of them at #35 with “Work It”. As we near the top 20, we find Nicki Minaj’s “Truffle Butter” at #26, and Beyonce’s “7/11” at #20. Finally, Nicki pops up yet again with “Only” at #17, and Usher remains locked at #13 with “I Don’t Mind.”