I guess people will still buy music even when it’s given away for free. Well, they will for Jay-Z at least. Samsung bought 1 million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail to give away to a million Samsung users. The RIAA didn’t technically count it even though they gave him a plaque to commemorate it. But don’t worry, Hova can still sell albums the old fashion way. Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail sold 527,000 copies in it’s first week (1.5 million if you count everything). To compare that to Hov’s most recent past releases, The Blueprint 3 sold 476,100 in it’s first week, and Watch The Throne with Kanye sold 436,100 copies. Magna Carta Holy Grail even broke Spotify records.
It’s not just about Jay-Z though; do you realize that this the 4th straight week Hip-Hop has had the top spot on the album charts? Kanye West’s Yeezus, J. Cole’s Born Sinner, Wale’s The Gifted, and now Magna Carta Holy Grail. That shit has never happened before. #NewRules
#1 Jay-Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail (Last Week: N/A) – 527,000; Total: N/A [Debut]
#2 Ciara – Ciara (Last Week: N/A) – 58,000; Total: N/A [Debut]
#3 J. Cole – Born Sinner (Last Week: #1) – 39,000; Total: 478,000 [4 Weeks]
#6 Kanye West – Yeezus (Last Week: #3) – 29,000; Total: 459,000 [4 Weeks]
#7 Wale – The Gifted (Last Week: #2) – 28,000; Total: 237,000 [3 Weeks]
#9 Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (Last Week: #7) – 23,000; Total: 665,000 (Gold) [8 Weeks]
#10 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – The Heist (Last Week: #8) – 22,000; Total: 913,000 (Gold) [40 Weeks]
#12 Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (Last Week: #11) – 19,000; Total: 2,076,000 (2x Platinum) [16 Weeks]
#24 Mac Miller – Watching Movies With The Sound Off (Last Week: #23) – 10,000; Total: 148,000 [4 Weeks]
#21 Joe – Double Back: Evolution Of R&B (Last Week: #6) – 11,000; Total: 42,000 [2 Weeks]
#24 Kelly Rowland – Talk A Good Game (Last Week: #18) – 10,000; Total: 131,000 [4 Weeks]
#30 Chrisette Nichele – Better (Last Week: #44) – 9,000; Total: 65,000 [5 Weeks]
#40 Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city (Last Week: #32) – 7,400; Total: 966,000 (Gold) [39 Weeks]
#50 Lil’ Wayne – I Am Not A Human Being II (Last Week: #42) – 6,200; Total: 517,000 (Gold) [16 Weeks]
#164 Tony Touch – The Piece Maker 3: Return Of The 50 MC’s (Last Week: N/A) – 2,400; Total: N/A [Debut]
Hip-Hop + R&B album sales for the week of July 9th (Top 50 & New Releases)