DRAKE TAKES THE CAKE
Canadian hip-hop phenom Drake’s proper Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown debut, Thank Me Later, debuts at #1 on this week’s HITS album chart with 463k, the third-highest total of the year after Sade and Lady Antebellum.
The one-time Degrassi High TV star-turned-world class rapper tops four other debuts in the first four slots, including Reprise’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (#2), Arista/RMG’s Sarah McLachlan (#3) and Capitol/EMI’s Now 34 (#4), the first edition of the popular series since the death of its founder, Bob Mercer, last month.
Brushfire/Universal Republic’s Jack Johnson album leads the holdovers at #5, followed by Chop Shop/Atlantic’s Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack (#6), Island/IDJ’s Justin Bieber (#7), Hear Music’s Carole King & James Taylor (#8, +50%), Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Lady Antebellum (#9) and Columbia’s Glee Cast: Journey to Regionals (#10).
The next highest newcomer is Side One Dummy’s Gaslight Anthem album, American Slang, which enters at #16. Warner Bros.’ Devo (#39), Loud & Proud/Roadrunner’s Steve Miller Band (#40) and Capitol/EMI’s Now USA (#49) also debut.
Last week’s CMT Awards and Father’s Day helped several country titles, including
Aside from King & Taylor, the week’s biggest increases are registered by Atlantic’s Zac Brown Band (#12, +36%), Columbia’s AC/DC Iron Man 2 soundtrack (#31-24, +15%), UMe’s Rolling Stones (#36-29, +15%), Reprise’s Michael Buble (#37-31, +12%), Roadrunner’s Nickelback (#40-32, +13%) and Sony Music Latin’s Marc Anthony (#47-35, +15%) leading the other double-digit gainers.
Hitting stores yesterday and headed for the chart are Shady/Aftermath/Interscope’s Eminem, Hollywood’s Miley Cyrus, Epic’s Ozzy Osbourne, Def Jam/IDJ’s Roots, Concord’s Macy Gray, Jive/JLG’s Sia, Downtown’s Cyndi Lauper, Kedar Entertainment’s Keith Sweat, Astralwerks/EMI’s Chemical Brothers and Hollywood’s All Star Weekend.
