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The numbers are in for this week’s Billboard charts, which saw several new releases, as well as a few surprises, from the rap world. Arguably one of the most anticipated albums of the year, Ab-Soul‘s ‘These Days…,’ suffered a slight disappointment having debuted at No. 11, just missing out on a top 10 spot.
The Black Lip Pastor’s sophomore album sold 22,000 copies in its first week. Despite more than quadrupling the first week tally of his previous album, ‘Control System’ (5,300), this pales in comparison to his TDE label mates Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q, who each moved more than 130,000 first-week units with ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ and ‘Oxymoron,’ respectively.
Fellow independent rapper G-Eazy, on the other hand, enjoyed a very strong first week on the charts as his third LP, ‘These Things Happen,’ debuted at No. 3 after selling 46,000 copies. Considering he had no radio single, big name co-sign or major label support, that’s a huge accomplishment for an artist who largely exists on the fringes of the rap sphere.
Elsewhere, the long-awaited debut album from RiFF RaFF, ‘Neon Icon,’ entered the chart at No. 22 having sold a modest 11,000 copies. As for that coveted No. 1 spot, this week’s honors go to the boy from Britain, Ed Sheeran, whose sophomore set, ‘x,’ shifted a huge 210,000 units. His 2011 debut ‘+’ peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. chart with first-week sales of 42,000.
