This week we saw pop star Rihanna, who also has one foot in the urban-sphere, rise to the top of the charts with her album Unapologetic. The LP was extremely pushed in all media markets, and her #RihannaPlane launched it into the internet stratosphere. Now we see how good advertising and promo can really effect sales--yes, Rihanna was a superstar in her own right prior to the album drop, but she had never got that coveted #1 spot 'til now. It seems she just needed that extra shove of promo-- or maybe it was all that controversy that's surrounded her recently-- Chris Brown and #RihannaPlane included. We heard recently from 50 Cent that "beef doesn't sell records." Do you guys agree with that? Or do you think controversy helps an artist get their name out, even if it's in a negative way?
1) Rihanna – Unapologetic: Although Rihanna always manages to sell numbers for her album, Unapologetic nabbed her a #1 spot on the Billboard charts for the first-time ever. She displaced Taylor Swift's Red in the process, moving 238,949 units in the opening week. We'll have to see if she is able to maintain her numbers and stay atop the charts.
2) Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city: Kendrick Lamar's GKMC hasn't dropped too much from last week, moving down four spots to #21, it still pushed 49,011 off the shelves over the past week. With his new single set to be “Poetic Justic,” he's sure to reach more ears with that Drizzy feature.
3) Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up: Although Nicki was upset that her re-release wasn't carried at Target or Wal-Mart, that didn't stop her crazy fan base from purchasing the album. The leader of the Barbz landed at #28 this week, with 34,501 copies sold.
4) The Weeknd – Trilogy: The Weeknd's Trilogy did impressive for its first week in stores, especially considering it only held three new tracks, but it looks like Abel's fan base isn't sustaining that momentum, dropping from #4 last week to #37 this week, with around 26k sold, that's down 71%.
5) Ne-Yo – R.E.D.: Ne-Yo's R.E.D. album is here for another week. Although the artist has been doing a lot of promo for his album, it doesn't seem to have the traction he would hope for. This week he sold 24,576 copies, which puts him at #40 on the charts. That's quite the a drop from his #26 spot last week.
And once again we are missing Charts Don't Lie favorite 2 Chainz, but that's not to say his Based On A T.R.U. Story isn't still selling copies-- impressively it almost moved the same amount as Ne-Yo's recent release, with 21k. Although not mentioned above, it should be noted Keyshia Cole's new album Woman To Woman managed to grab the #10 spot on the charts, with 96,000 units sold. Next week we may not be seeing a large change in this list, apart from Alicia Keys who's Girl On Fire is projected to take Rihanna's #1 spot.
