This week is an exciting not only due to a lot of movement in the chart, but the fact that four rap albums take up the top spots on the Billboard 200. Yes, one happens to be a soundtrack, but seeing that the tracklist is made up almost entirely of hip-hop and RnB, it's hard to see it any other way. This also happens to be the first week since it's release that Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly hasn't occupied the number one spot, being ousted by Wale's The Album About Nothing. We'll have to see if the Seinfeld-loving rapper can hold on to that spot next week, 'til then take a look at the full breakdown below.
1) Wale—The Album About Nothing: Wale manages to dethrone Kendrick, who spent the last two weeks in the top spot. TAAN makes a number 1 debut despite not matching the sales of the rapper's last album, The Gifted, but still pulls through with 100,245 sold, 88,210 discounting streams
2) Various— Furious 7: The Wiz Khalifa, Kid Ink, and Sevyn Streeter-featuring soundtrack climbs to it's highest chart position this week at number 2 (jumping from 17). It accumulates 73,526 in sales this week, and has sold a total of 55,052 copies not including streams.
3) Ludacris—Ludaversal: Luda also makes his debut on the charts this week, edged out ever so slightly by Furious 7, landing at number 3 on the Top 200. The rapper moved 72,627 copies of his comeback project, with 62,289 in traditional sales.
4) Kendrick Lamar—To Pimp A Butterfly: Now in its third week, Kendrick's latest opus falls from grace to the number 4 spot. 65,088 copies (53,456 excluding streams) were purchased, giving him a grand total of 484,410 (which means he'll likely make the jump to gold next week).
5) Drake—If You're Reading This It's Too Late: Drizzy is still moving units, and with a rumored physical release of the mixtape on the horizon, we should see a spike in sales soon enough. The 6 God acquired 40,811 in sales this week, more than half of which were in streams. The project has sold 809,522 total thus far. He falls from 14 to 18.
6) Empire—Season 1 OST: After a phenomenal showing over the last couple weeks, the Empire soundtrack has finally lost some momentum, falling from 2 to 15 this week. The OST brought in 40,315 units in sales, mostly from purchases (31,309). It's sold 277,601 total.
7) Jodeci—The Past, The Present, The Future: Jodeci's reunion LP arrived rather quietly, and its sales reflect such, with the album debuting at number 23, and generating 28,041 in sales, almost entirely through purchasing (26,651).
8) Big Sean—Dark Sky Paradise: Sean falls from 14 to 25 this week, and will likely need another single to be boosted back up. 24,123
9) Nicki Minaj—The Pinkprint: Nicki sneaks in just behind Sean at number 26, dropping from 16. She brings in 23,441 sales this week, mostly in streams (only 7,147 purchases), making her total 586,597 units sold.
We're not seeing too much new activity at the top of this week's Hot 100, with The Weeknd's "Earned It" moving one spot to number and Fetty Wap's "Trap Queen" sitting tight at 6. However, Future's "Commas," which-- if you're a rap fan --has been pretty inescapable as of late, finally makes it's debut on the charts at 98. If it takes after Fetty's street anthem, it could have a chance of some high placement. Meanwhile, Kendrick's "King Kunta" has jumped from 78 to 61, and Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" is up from 23 to 19.