Charts Don’t Lie: June 8
By Rose LilahPosted Jun 8, 2014 at 03:14 PM222
Weekly review of the Hip-Hop and R&B sales/charts.
This week our one new entry belongs to Mariah Carey, who recently released her umpteeth album, Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse. While the sales show she doesn't quite have that star power she once did, it's still a respectable debut of #3. Meanwhile, we're waiting to hear the final numbers for 50 Cent's comeback LP Animal Ambition, which he dropped perfectly in tune with the G-Unit reunion/remixes. Although Fif has had no lack of promo leading up to Animal Ambition, it appears all that hard work may not translate into sales, as the album is only slated to move 30-35k, which is almost laughable compared to his debut album's opening week sales of 872,000 copies. Nonetheless, we must remember the day and age we're currently in, and really, no one but Justin Timberlake or Beyonce could pull off those numbers these days. This leads us to wonder what G-Unit numbers will look like when they put out a reunion LP in November? The excitement is definitely there for that, whereas the excitement for Animal Ambition seemed to almost dwindle more and more as we approached the release-- perhaps due in part to the fact that we'd basically already heard every track off the standard edition (this could also play a part in the low sales?). Check back next week to find out the numbers for 50 Cent, and for now, peep what else went down this past week below.
1) Mariah Carey— Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse: Mariah Carey made her debut on the Billboard 200 this week with her elaborately-titled new album. The album did not do anything major in temrs of numbers, but it was enough to land her at #3. She moved 58,000 units opening week, and thus this LP became her 17th album to debut in the top 10, if you can believe it.
2) Michael Jackson— Xscape: Another vet to the Billboard charts, Michael Jackson, descends from his previous resting place of #3 to #7. After three weeks on charting, the posthumous LP moved 35,000 copies, with total sales reaching 259,000.
3) Iggy Azalea— The New Classic: Iggy’s debut album remains a strong force on the Billboard 200, only dropping one spot this week to #10. Iggy sold another 18,000 copies this week, bringing her total sales to 145,000.
4) Pharrell— G I R L: Pharrell Williams continues a slow creep down the charts from last week’s #17 spot. This week the hitmaker comes in at #21, having sold 12,114 units. Total sales for G I R L are currently 411,753, nearing the 500k mark.
5) Eminem— The Marshall Mathers LP 2: When it comes to Em and the charts, the rapper never goes anywhere fast. MMLP2 has been up here for 30 weeks now, and dropped only four spots this week to #35. The album moved 6,523 units, with total sales at 2,121,838.
6) The Roots—…And Then You Shoot Your Cousin: The Roots made their Billboard entrance last week at #11, however this week they’ve dropped off quite a bit to #41. After two weeks of charting, the hip-hop group moved over 5k this week, with 5,856 sold. Their total sales are 25,642.
7) Future— Honest: Future’s drop this week was from #35 to #43, after spending 6 weeks on the 200. The singer-rapper was able to move out 5,716 units which brings his total sales up to 105,911.
8) Michael Jackson— Number Ones: MJ’s greatest hits compilation has been circulating the charts again, since Xscape dropped. Last week we saw it climb up to #33, but this week Number Ones drops right below Future at #44. The album sold 5,638 making the total sales 5,054,186.
9) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience 2: Chart-topper and mainstay Justin Timberlake experienced a slight drop this week, settling at #50. The singer sold 5,000 units, with total sales at 987,000.
10) Beyonce— Beyonce: Bey has been another chart mainstay since her surprise album, and only now are we seeing her fall off after 25 weeks. The pop star’s self-titled album dropped six spots to #51, and sold another 5,000. Her total sales are very close to 2 milly aka double platinum, at 1,986,000.