This week J. Lo returns to the Billboard 200, although her opening week numbers are not as strong as previous releases from the pop star. Back in the 2000s when J. Lo was really in her prime (although we cannot deny she is still looking hot these days), the singer would easily sell upwards of 200,000 units opening week. However her comeback album, A.K.A., didn't even manage to break the 50k mark. Even Fif's new LP, Animal Ambition, an independent release, managed to sell more than A.K.A. opening week. With all the major label push behind her, Lopez moved 33,000 units opening week. She just made it within the Billboard 200's top 10, coming in at #8. Despite these somewhat unimpressive sales, we're sure J. Lo is doing just fine financially, and at this point, she can make music simply for pocket change. Hip-hop continues to dwindle off of Charts Don't Lie as r'n'b takes over the top positions. Check out what else happened this week on the Billboard 200 below.
1) Jennifer Lopez— A.K.A.: J. Lo made her return to the Billboard 200 this past week, with the release of her new album A.K.A. The album debuted at #8 on the charts, moving 33,000 copies opening week. This is less than half the opening week sales for her last album, 2011’s Love?, which did 83,100 opening week. In fact, this serves as one of her lowest numbers in the span of her eight studio LPs.
2) Michael Jackson— Xscape: MJ fell off to #17 this week, dropping from #9. The late pop star moved 15,434 units this past week, which brought his total Xscape sales to 324,567.
3) Iggy Azalea— The New Classic: Iggy is staying strong on these charts, which is perhaps why she’s already decided to re-release The New Classic come September. Until then though, we’re tracking her debut album’s numbers. The album actually climbed up a few spots this week to #19, and sold 14,184 units. Total sales are 192,167.
4) 50 Cent— Animal Ambition: 50’s charting power ain’t what it used to be. The rapper’s new album Animal Ambition fell this past week to #23, after spending 3 weeks on the 200. He moved another 10,090 copies, bringing his grand tally to 73,936.
5) Mary J. Blige— Think Like A Man Too: Veteran r’n’b singer Mary J. Blige handled all the music for the soundtrack to the sequel “Think Like A Man Too.” The soundtrack debuted this week at #30, with 8,668 copies sold.
6) Pharrell— G I R L: P’s ode to the female gender also dropped down this week, from #29 last week to #32. After spending a strong 16 weeks on the Billboard 200, Pharrell managed to sell another 8,157 units, with his total sales at 444,503.
7) John Legend— Love In The Future: John Legend’s album has been charting for 42 weeks now, and he continues to hold it down with the top 50 of the chart, proving that slow and steady wins the race. Love In The Future rose up a few spots this week to #36, with the album pushing 7,453 copies off the shelves. His total sales are 545,938.
8) Jason Derulo— Talk Dirty: Jason Derulo doesn’t seem to be having the same success as John Legend, with his new LP Talk Dirty falling from #35 to #40 after 10 weeks of charting. Derulo’s album sold 6,464 units this week, with total sales of 123,259.
9) Eminem— The Marshall Mathers LP 2: Eminem rose up just under ten spots this, finding himself at #43. MMLP2 sold 6,235 copies while the total sales of the commercially successful LP are at 2,140,503.
10) Mariah Carey— Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse: After just 4 weeks on the Billboard 200, Mariah already finds herself below Eminem (who’s been charting for 33 weeks) at #46. The album hasn’t been performing too exceptionally, with her album sales this week at 5,699, down 28% from last week.
Further down the charts this week we find ScHoolboy Q's Oxymoron at #74, up from #86 last week. Drake's NWTS also saw a small spike, climbing from #85 to #78. Future's Honest rises from #94 to #87. Finally, YG's My Krazy Life comes in below at Future at #93.
