Ace Hood Edges Out Maino, MJ’s Sales Soar

Several new releases hit the stands last week but none could compete with the late King of Pop, whose catalog’s sales continued to skyrocket after his death.

Like previously reported, despite his overwhelming sales, Michael Jackson will not be sitting atop The Billboard 200 because the list bans any record that is older that 18 months. Instead MJ dominates the Top Albums sales chart, with his Number Ones compilation taking the top spot, with 339,200 units moved this week, according to the Nielsen SoundScan. Thriller follows at no. 2 with 187,500 CDs sold. Four more Jackson albums made it into the top 40, including The Essential Michael Jackson at no. 5 with 125,400 in sales, Off the Wall at no. 11 with 51,300, Dangerous at no. 21 with 26,200 and Bad at no. 25 with 22,500.

On the current charts, the Black Eyed Peas remain ahead of the rap pack. Even though they fell four spots to no. 5 this week, The E.N.D., the group’s latest effort, racked up an additional 69,800 units in its fourth week. Their total sales figure stands at 609,900.

Directly under the Peas is R&B rookie Jeremih. In his first week on the charts, the “Birthday Sex”singer, landed at no. 6 with his self-titled debut. The Def Jam crooner sold 58,700 LPs in his introductory week.

Sliding four spots to no. 9 this go-round is rap phenom Eminem. Relapse, the Detroit rapper’s highly anticipated comeback disc, bagged up 38,700 units this week, making his seven-week total stand at 1,207,400.

Debuting at no. 23 is DJ Khaled protégé Ace Hood. As projected the XXL Freshman alum managed to ring up 19,700 copies of his sophomore disc Ruthless. The LP boasts a star-studded line-up of guest appearances from the likes of Ludacris, Rick Ross, T-Pain, Akon and Lloyd.

Two spots down at no. 25 is Brooklyn rapper Maino with his long delayed major label debut If Tomorrow Comes…The disc, which features the singles “Hi Hater,” “All The Above” featuring T-Pain and “Million Bucks” featuring Swizz Beatz, sold 18, 300 units in its first week on the charts.

Wu-Tang's Chamber Music project - an album that paired the Shaolin rappers with East Coast favorites  Cormega, Havoc, AZ and Kool G. Rap, among others, over live instrumentation - debuted at no. 49. The indie release sold 9,500 units in its first week out. 

Next week look for Maxwell's long-awaited new album BLACKsummer'snight and rapper/producer The Alchemist’s sophomore set Chemical Warfare to chart. –Max G