Kanye West Lands Third Straight No. 1

Kanye West made it work. Creating a different style with his brand new album, 808s and Heartbreak, he was able to land his third straight no. 1 album on the Billboard 200.

The new set moved 450,000 in its first week to grab the throne. However, it’s Kanye’s lowest first week in sales since his debut album, The College Dropout, sold 441,000 to open in 2004. Last year, Graduation sold nearly 1 million copies in its first week, while 2005’s Late Registration opened with 860,000 copies.

Later down the list is Beyonce’s I Am … Sasha Fierce, which suffered a 47% drop in sales its second week, with 257,000, putting her at no. 4.

Right behind B is Ludacris’ brand new album, Theater of the Mind, landing at no. 5 with 213,000 sold this week. It’s Luda’s first time his album didn’t begin at no. 1, since 2001’s Word of Mouf peaked at just no. 3.

T.I.’s Paper Trail is still hanging on to the top 20, selling nearly 75,000 copies this week to put him at no. 16. To date, the album’s sold just over 1.3 million.

That’s it for the top 20.

New releases? E-40’s The Ball Street Journal opened at no. 42, selling over 30,000 copies.

According to Billboard.com, sales this week are up 29% compared to last week’s sum, but down 0.7% compared to the same sales week last year.

Source: BallerStatus