Eminem Surpasses Nicki Minaj on the Charts

Riding high off his explosive performances at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, Eminem leads the rap pack on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, once again.

For the first time in seven weeks, Em’s sales figures breezed past Nicki Minaj. According to the Nielsen SoundScan report, released this morning (February 23), about 60,700 fans went out and bought Shady’s Recovery album following the Grammys, earning him a spot at No. 6. After 35-weeks the March 2011 XXL cover boy’s overall sales now stand at a whopping 3,633,900.

Ms. Minaj slipped five slots down from No. 4 to the No. 9 position this go-round. Despite the fall, Pink Friday still tallied up an additional 45,900 units, bringing her 13-week total to 1,127,200.

The Young Money Princess’ mentor Lil Wayne climbed nine seats up to No. 25 this week. I Am Not A Human Being saw a 39 percent spike in sales, as fans purchased 21,400 copies of the disc this cycle. In 21-weeks, Weezy sold approximately 769,700 units.

Although Kanye West experienced a slight sales increase, it wasn’t enough to save him his spot at No. 26. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy slid 10 notches down to No. 36 with 16,800 in sales this week. Yeezy’s to-date stats ring in at 1,031,800 after 13-weeks.

Making his debut on the Billboard Top 200 this week is Saigon’s long delayed album, The Greatest Story Never Told. Sai’s official debut failed to make it into the Top 40, but garnered a seat at No. 61 with 11,300 units sold.

Check back with XXLMag.com next Wednesday to see how Joell Ortiz’s Free Agent and Strong Arm Steady’s Arms & Hammers fare on the charts.—Elan Mancini