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Though
he fell over 500,000 copies short of hisopening week release last year,
Kanye West is still Billboard’s top dog. For the third straight
time, West debuted at No. 1 on Top 200 Album charts. Going for a more
somber, auto-tune-heavy approach than on his past records, 808’s
& Heartbreak sold 450,000 copies in its first week, a far cry from
the 957,000 done by Graduation according to Nielsen SoundScan.
808’s
& Heartbreak marks West’s lowest sales mark since the opening
week release of The College Dropout in 2004, which sold 441,000 units.
West’s sophomore album, Late Registration, sold 860,000 when it
was released in 2005. Though 808’s & Heartbreak has received
less-than-favorable response from critics and fans alike, West still
seems to have a grasp on his star power.
Coming
four spots behind West was Def Jam label mate Ludacris. The Atlanta
MC’s DTP/Def Jam release Theater of the Mind debuted at No. 5 and
sold 213,000 units in its opening week. For the rapper-turned-actor
Ludacris, Theater of the Mind marks the first time he hasn’t had
an album debut at No. 1 since 2003’s Word of Mouf. –gavin philip godfrey
