Rick Ross continues his winning-streak with “Mastermind,” which gives the rapper his fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the set sold 179,000 copies in its debut week.
Ross” 2012 album, “God Forgives, I Don”t,” entered at No. 1 with 218,000 – his best sales week to date – while his five other major-label releases have launched between 158,000 and 198,000. Ross joins DMX and Tupac, who have each had five No. 1 albums. Nas and Kanye West have had six No. 1s, Eminem has seven, and Jay Z leads with 13.
Pharrell Williams' second solo album, “G I R L,” starts at No. 2 with 112,000. The album's lead single, “Happy,” has been the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for the last three weeks. Pharrell performed the best original song nominee at the Academy Awards (March 3), the day before he released “G I R L.”
The best original song winner, “Let It Go,” helped the “Frozen” soundtrack make gains this week (+9), even though it slips from No. 2 to No. 3 with 100,000. The album has now sold 1.3 million copies to date.
“Glee” star Lea Michele enters at No. 4 with her debut album “Louder,” which bows at 60,000. Michele has spent time in the charts as a cast member of the Broadway musical “Spring Awakening” and with numerous “Glee” cast albums, three of which have reached No. 1.
Eli Young Band”s fifth album, “10,000 Towns,” debuts at No. 5 with 36,000. The country group”s 2011 album “Life at Best” peaked at No. 6 with 35,000. “10,000 Towns” marks the best sales week and highest chart position for the act.
In its second week, Beck's “Morning Phase” drops from No. 3 to No. 6 with 33,000 (-62%). Lorde's “Pure Heroine” rebounds from No. 11 to No. 7 with 31,000 (+5%).
Last week's No. 1, ScHoolboy Q's “Oxymoron,” dips to No. 8 with 30,000 (-78%), while Eric Church's “The Outsiders” slides from No. 7 to No. 9 with a little less than 30,000 (-29%).
Ashanti”s latest album, “Braveheart,” rounds out the top 10 with 28,000. “Braveheart” is Ashanti's fifth top 10 album and was released on her own label, Written Entertainment.
Sales are down 1% this week compared to the previous week and down 9% compared to the same week last year. Year-to-date album sales are down 15% compared with the previous year.