B.o.B Debuts in Top 5 of Billboard Charts, Seven Beastie Boys Releases Land on 200

Plenty of fans were eager to take a trip to the sky this past week with B.o.B, as the rapper's sophomore album, Strange Clouds, moved just over 76,300 copies in its first week. The only other rap acts in the top 25 of the Billboard 200 were Nicki Minaj, in her fifth week, and Beastie Boys, who moved thousands of units, following the death of group member Adam "MCA" Yauch this past Friday (May 4).

Minaj's sophomore effort, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since it dropped on April 3, moving 20,500 units this week to hit No. 17, which brings the femcee's total to 435,900 to date. She seems on pace to hit gold certification by the end of the month.

Following the untimely death of Adam "MCA" Yauch last week, a number of Beastie Boys releases jumped back onto the charts this past week. The New York City trio's classic debut, Licensed To Ill, first released in 1986, jumped to No. 18, selling 19,100 discs more than a quarter century after its initial release. That was just one of seven Beastie Boys albums that landed within the top 200 this week. Solid Gold Hits, their greatest hits collection from 2005, moved just under 8,000, to land at No. 51; their 1989 sophomore album, Paul's Boutique, hit No. 56, with sales of 7,700; Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2 and Ill Communication sold just over 4,000 each, to reemerge at No. 107 and 109, respectively; at No. 124, Check Your Head sold 3,700; and Anthology: Sound Of Science moved 3,300 units to come in at No. 141.

Of more current releases, the only other top 50 placements were Drake's Take Care and Future's Pluto, which each moved roughly 11,600 to land at No. 33 and 34, respectively.

With no major releases yesterday, look for similar names to occupy the charts next week. —Adam Fleischer (@AdamXXL)