This week we're seeing several new hip-hop and r'n'b entries on Charts Don't Lie, or more to the point, the Billboard 200. Nothing too crazy happened though, with r'n'b singer Tank taking our top spot, but that's only with a debut at #13 (selling 17,000 units). We're mainly seeing underground/indie numbers with our new entries. FKA twigs (whom you may recall Ro Ransom recently compared to Aaliyah) makes her debut at #30, while Twista's Dark Horse album sold just under 7,000 copies. Although he's an OG in the game, it seems his loyal fanbase has somewhat depleted. We can compare Twista's numbers to underground mainstay Dilated Peoples, who made a debut right below Twista at #41 also moving under 7k. Apart from these new, smaller releases, we're seeing both G-Eazy and Childish Gambino rise back up the 200 with a spurt in their sales. The reason behind either is unclear, but G-Eazy continues to gain buzz and Childish Gambino is Donald Glover (that seems like a good enough reason). Take a look at what else transpired on the Billboard 200 this week below. Stay tuned for Wiz Khalifa's Blacc Hollywood to takeover (or nah?) the Billboard 200 soon-- as we reported this past week, he's only projected to move 70k-80k.
1) Tank— Stronger: Veteran r’n’b singer Tank made his debut on the Billboard 200 this week with his new album Stronger, his sixth solo studio album. The album arrives in the Billboard 200 at #13, after selling 17,000 copies opening week. That’s slightly less than half the numbers his fifth studio LP, This Is How I Feel, did in 2012.
2) Iggy Azalea— The New Classic: Iggy Azalea is keeping the Billboard charts on lock, not so unlike last year’s rap sensation Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Iggy’s The New Classic rises up this week to #17, after charting for 17 weeks. She’s sold 13,135 copies over the last week, with total sales mounting to 296,004.
3) Trey Songz— Trigga: Trey Songz dropped five spots this week, coming in at #26. The singer moved 11,279 units of his new LP, and brought his grand tally to 213,240. He’s been charting for 7 weeks now.
4) G-Eazy— These Things Happen: G-Eazy continues to prove himself as an independent rapper worth taking notice of, as he soars back up the Billboard 200 this week. Last week we saw him way down at #71, but this week he’s sitting comfortably at #29. After charting for 8 weeks, he sold another 10,457 copies of his album. His total sales have reached 91,204.
5) FKA twigs— LP1: The video girl turned alt-r’n’b singer FKA twigs made her debut on the Billboard 200 this week with her new debut album, simply titled LP1. The album comes in at #30, after moving just over 10k, with 10,370 copies sold opening week.
6) Childish Gambino— Because The Internet: We saw Gambino’s stock suddenly rise up on the charts last week, and the trend continues this week with his album coming in at #31, right below FKA twigs. That’s another leap from last week’s #58. Because The Internet moved 10,244 copies, with total sales reaching 322,634.
7) Michael Jackson— Xscape: MJ climbs up a few spots this week to #35, after charting for 14 weeks. Xscape did 8,366 copies in terms of sales this week, while the album’s total sales are at 406,964.
8) Twista— Dark Horse: Twista made a somewhat quiet debut on the Billboard 200 this past week, with his ninth studio album Dark Horse. The Chicago spitter comes in at #40, having moved 6,722 copies opening week. It’s not the most impressive numbers we’ve seen from him, but hey, it could be worse.
9) Dilated Peoples—Directors of Photography: Underground hip-hop group Dilated Peoples are another bunch of newcomers this week, with their sixth studio album Directors of Photography hitting the Billboard 200 right below Twista. They moved similar amounts in fact, with Dilated Peoples selling 6,566 copies of their Rhymesayers release opening week.
10) Pharrell— G I R L: As we learned earlier this week, Pharrell’s G I R L album was just certified gold, meaning he hit the 500,000 mark when it comes to sales. With that in mind, P moves up to #42 this week, having sold 6,500 copies this week. To be precise, his total sales are 502,000.
As we move past Pharrell further down the Billboard 200, we find August Alsina's Testimony up from last week at #52. Eminem's MMLP2 also saw a rise this week, moving up from #72 to #60. Em sold 5k this week, with total sales at 2,179,000. Further below Eminem we find Common's Nobody's Smiling dropped down from #56 to #68. Finally's Drake's NWTS comes in at #78, down two spots from last week. Drizzy's total album sales are 1,612,000.
