ROSS ON THE RISE

Miami rapper Rick Ross enjoys living large, and it doesn’t get any bigger than a #1 HITS chart debut for his new Def Jam/IDJ album, God Forgives, I Don’t, which enters on top with 215k, more than five times his closest challenger,. and the largest first-week total of his career.

Last week’s chart champ, Atlantic Records country-rock group Zac Brown Band’s Uncaged, drops a notch to #2, with Island/IDJ’s Justin Bieber (#3), Syco/Columbia’s One Direction (#4) and Razor & Tie’s Kidz Bop Kids (#5) rounding out the leader board.

S-Curve U.K. soul diva Joss Stone’s sequel to her debut Sessions album debuts at #9, while Emblem/Reprise country act Gloriana enters at #10.

Def Jam/IDJ’s Nas (#6), XL/Columbia’s Adele (#7) and A&M/Octone’s Maroon 5 (#8) complete the Top 10.

Other Top 50 newcomers include Nuclear Blast America’s veteran hard rockers Testament (#19), RCA’s Sparkle soundtrack with Whitney Houston’s final performances (#26), Mom + Pop’s Joshua Radin (#34), Gospocentric’s J Moss (#37), Interscope’s Imagine Dragons (#40), Republic’s Alex Clare (#45) and Interscope’s Step Up Revolution soundtrack (#50).

An Amazon MP3 99-cent sale pushes Roadrunner’s Rush (#16), Reprise’s Bee Gees Number Ones compilation (##18) and Warner Bros.’ James Taylor Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (#28) back on the charts.

Blue Note/EMI’s Norah Jones (#44) also returns to the Top 50.

Columbia’s John Mayer leads the week’s batch of double-digit gainers, moving #38-31, +60%, followed by 19/Arista Nashville’s Carrie Underwood (#23-20, +26%), YM/CM/Republic’s Nicki Minaj (#32, +25%), Glassnote’s Mumford & Sons (#35, +17%) and Capitol/EMI’s Now 42 (#30, +12%).

Hitting stores this week are Capitol/EMI’s Now 43, Sony Legacy’s We Walk the Line soundtrack tribute to Johnny Cash, RCA’s ElleVarner and Palehorse/ADA’s 10 Years. Def Jam/IDJ’s eagerly awaited 2 Chainz hits on Aug. 14, with Atlantic’s Trey Songz on deck for the following week (8/21).