Maybach Music Group rapper Wale’s The Gifted dominated its competition this week debuting atop the sales chart at number one.
After seven days on stores shelves, the LP sold nearly 160,000 copies as
Wale scores his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week with The Gifted.
The third album from the D.C. rapper sold 158,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It marks Wale’s second top 10 album following 2011′s Ambition.
Last week’s No. 1, Kanye West‘s Yeezus, drops to No. 3 with an 80% decline in sales. After selling 327,000 copies in its first week, the album only sold 65,000 in its second week. J. Cole‘s sophomore set Born Sinner remains at No. 2 in its second week, selling 84,000 (down 72%). Meanwhile, India.Arie returns to the charts at No. 7 withSongVersation (31,000), her fifth top 10 album on the Billboard 200.
Last weeekend estimates had Ralph Folarin’s new LP expected to chart atop the competition.
Here’s how it looks headed into the weekend: *Wale (Atlantic) 140-150k J. Cole (Roc Nation/Columbia) 90-95k Kanye West (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam/IDJ) 70-75k *Skillet (Atlantic) 50-55k Daft Punk (Columbia) 30-35k Florida Georgia Line (Republic Nashville) 27-30k Black Sabbath (Republic) 27-30k *August Burns Red (Solidstate) 24-27k Kelly Rowland (Motown) 24-27k Mac Miller (Rostrum) 23-26k
Congratulations to Wale and the Maybach Music Group!