This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it was a hip-hop affair in the top three.
Kanye West, J. Cole and Mac Miller debuted new albums, respectively at
Nos. 1-3 on the list. West's "Yeezus" led the rap parade, selling
327,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Outside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 there were a number of movers and shakers, as usual. Let's take a look at some of them…
-- Justin Timberlake, "The 20/20 Experience" (No. 9):
This week, Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" becomes the first
album to sell two million copies in 2013. The set, which slips 3-9 on
the Billboard 200 with 32,000 sold (down 8%), sees its cumulative sales
rise to 2.02 million in the U.S. It's also the only album to sell 1
million so far in 2013. The year's runner-up bestseller is Bruno Mars'
"Unorthodox Jukebox," which has shifted 963,000. (The latter's total
sales -- as it was released in late 2012 -- stand at 1.44 million.)
At the same time a year ago, only one album had shifted more than two
million as well: Adele's "21." Through the sales week ending June 24,
2012, "21" had shifted 3.63 million in 2012. It of course finished the
year as the top selling album, with 4.41 million.
-- OneRepublic, "Native" (No. 16): What a difference
NBC's "The Voice" makes! After the band performed on the season finale
of the talent series (June 18), the album flies 111-16 with a 366% gain.
With 20,000 sold, it's the set's best sales week and chart rank since
its debut at No. 4 on April 13 (60,000).
-- Hanson, "Anthem" (No. 22): The trio's new album
debuts at No. 22 with 13,000 sold -- less than the arrival of their last
effort, 2010's "Shout It Out" (14,000). However, "Anthem" is the
group's highest-charting album since 2000. That year, its final studio
set for Island Records, "This Time Around," debuted and peaked at No.
19.
-- Michelle Chamuel, "The Voice: The Complete Season 4 Collection" (No. 57):
The three finalists from the just-closed season of "The Voice" debut
within the top 75 this week -- all with their own same-titled
compilation album. Each set features the contestant's respective
performances from the competition series. Winner Danielle Bradbery is at
No. 19 with the best sales week of any "Voice" finalist -- ever. Her
set sold 18,000. Runner-up Chamuel starts with 7,000 at No. 57 and
third-placers the Swon Brothers bow with just under 7,000 (No. 65).
-- Pink Floyd, "The Dark Side of the Moon" (No. 91):
With 9.53 million sold, and sales of 3,000 to 8,000 per week, the
classic is the next in line to hit the magic 10-million SoundScan-era
sales threshold -- although it might take approximately two more years.
Since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, 22 albums have shifted
10 million.
-- Phish, "Ventura" (No. 123): The six-CD box set is
the 31st chart entry for the band and bows with 3,000 sold. It features
two live shows recorded in 1997 and 1998. Eighty-three percent of its
sales came from non-traditional means, mostly from Phish's official
merchandise web site, Phish Dry Goods.