After breaking the iTunes record for the most downloads sold in an album’s first week of release, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne has now landed at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart.
According to Billboard, Nielson SoundScan reports that Watch The Throne moved 436,000 units, making it the second-biggest sales week for an album, following Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, which opened at No. 1 with 1.1 million copies sold.
Watch The Throne continued to score big in digital sales. The album, which was sold exclusively on iTunes from Aug. 8-11 before going on sale at all digital retailers on Friday, Aug. 12, raked in 321,000 downloads, marking the second-largest digital week ever, following, once again, Gaga’s Born This Way, which sold 662,000 downloads in its first week.
Though the album came in at No. 1, experts say that the unconventional digital release date (a Monday, instead of a traditional Tuesday) as well as its iTunes exclusive, may have hampered its first-week sales potential. The experts say that the album’s second week of sales, its first full week available in all markets, will prove its true selling potential.
Nonetheless, the album marks Jay-Z’s 12th time atop the Billboard 200 chart and West’s fifth time atop the chart. Jay-Z has now extended his record as the solo act with the most No. 1 albums in history. Hov is bested only by The Beatles, who have 19 No. 1 albums.
If they continue to man the throne, perhaps Jay-Z and West will best The Beatles, one day. –nicholas robinson
