ScHoolboy Q has arrived with his major-label debut, “Oxymoron,” which bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week, selling 139,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Los Angeles rapper is the first of the Top Dawg Entertainment family – which includes Kendrick Lamar – to score a No. 1 album.
“Oxymoron” is ScHoolboy Q's best-selling album to date, following his independent releases “Setbacks,” which sold 17,000 in 2011, and “Habits & Contradictions,” which sold 48,000 in 2012. The album also marks the largest debut by a rapper since Eminem's “The Marshall Mathers LP 2,” which opened at No. 1 with 792,000.
In its ninth straight week in one of the top two positions, the soundtrack to Disney's “Frozen” slides to No. 2 with 91,000 (+2%). Its sales were likely boosted by winning best original song (“Let It Go”) and best animated feature at the Academy Awards on Sunday (March 2).
Beck”s critically-acclaimed 10th album “Morning Phase” enters at No. 3 with 87,000, giving him his second-highest charting album ever. In 2005, “Guero” debuted and peaked at No. 2. Beck's last album, 2008″s “Modern Guilt,” debuted at No. 4 with 84,000.
At No. 4 is Kid Cudi's surprise new album “Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon,” which sold 87,000 as a digital-only release. Like Beyonce”s self-titled album, it was only sold as a complete album i.e. no individual tracks could be purchased. Cudi's last album, 2013's “Indicud,” debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 136,000.
Latin singer Romeo Santos” “Formula: Vol. 2” debuts at No. 5 with 85,000. It marks the biggest sales week for a Latin album since 2006 when pop group RBD”s “Celestial” entered with 117,000. Santos first solo set, “Formula: Vol. 1,” also debuted in the top 10, peaking at No. 9 in 2011.
Country singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley's seventh studio album, “Riser,” starts at No. 6 with 63,000. Bentley”s 2012 album “Home” entered at No. 7 with 55,000. His highest-charting set is 2009's “Feel That Fire,” which debuted and peaked at No. 3 with 71,000.
Eric Church's “The Outsiders” slips from No. 2 to No. 7 in its third week with 43,000 (-42%).
Another debut in this week”s top 10, The Fray's “Helios” bows at No. 8 with 37,000. The pop/rock band”s last album, 2012's “Scars & Stories,” debuted and peaked at No. 4 with 87,000.
The “Now 49” compilation falls from No. 4 to No. 9 with 34,000 (-25%), while “Beyonce” slips from No. 5 to No. 10 with 32,000 (-9%).
Sales are down 5% this week compared to the previous week and down 13% compared to the same week last year. Year-to-date album sales are down 15% compared with the previous year.