They don’t call him “The Bawse” for nothing: Rick Ross tops this week’s Nielsen SoundScan albums chart with his latest album, Mastermind. Elsewhere, Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” enjoys its best sales week yet on the singles chart, as Coldplay and Phillip Phillips arrive on the charts. With more, here’s this week’s SoundScanner update:
Rick Ross beats out Pharrell: Rick Ross tops this week’s Nielsen SoundScan Top Current Albums chart with Mastermind, his sixth studio album and fifth chart-topper. (Only his 2010 album Teflon Don missed the top spot.) Mastermind started with 179,000 sales, off from the 218,000 first week sales of 2012’s God Forgives, I Don’t, but enough to give him a comfortable lead over the week’s runner-up, Pharrell Williams’ G I R L. The Neptunes producer’s second solo set sold 112,000 copies its first week, which is below the 142,000 first-week sales of his last album, 2006’s In My Mind, which started at No. 3.
Lea Michele, Eli Young start out strong: Aside from Ross and Pharrell, three other artists land Top 10 debuts on this week’s chart. Glee actress Lea Michele starts out at No. 4 with her debut album Louder, which sold 60,000 copies its first week. Following Michele is the Eli Young Band, which lands at No. 5 with its first album in three years, 10,000 Towns, which opens with 36,000 sales. And rounding out the Top 10 is the latest album from R&B songstress Ashanti, Braveheart, which sold 28,000 copies its first week. Just outside the Top 10 are new albums by David Nail (No. 13, 23,000), American Authors (No. 15, 22,000) and Drive By Truckers (No. 16, 18,000).
‘Happy’ explodes, ‘Let It Go’ climbs: He didn’t win an Oscar or the week’s race on the albums chart, but Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” enjoys its biggest sales week yet on this week’s Digital Songs chart. The song sold a massive 490,000 downloads this week, up 19 percent from last week, bringing its total sales to 2.6 million. John Legend’s “All of Me” takes the week’s No. 2 spot, with 210,000 sales (up 6 percent), and Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty” is No. 3 with 195,000 downloads (down 10 percent). Meanwhile, the Frozen smash “Let It Go” – which did win the Best Original Song Oscar – jumps up one spot to No. 4 with 185,000 sales (up 42 percent), its best sales week to date. Along with the Academy Awards win, we’re sure Idina Menzel’s performance of the song with the Roots and Jimmy Fallon had a little something to do with its sales surge.
Coldplay, Phillip Phillips post debuts: “Magic,” the first single from Coldplay’s upcoming album Ghost Stories, debuts at No. 7 on this week’s Digital Songs chart, after selling 114,000 downloads its first week. Coldplay performed at this week’s SXSW festival in Austin, Tex., and Ghost Stories is due out May 19. The week’s other top debut comes from former American Idol winner Phillip Phillips, who premiered his new single “Raging Fire” on Idol last week. The song debuts at No. 17 on this week’s chart with 74,000 downloads.
K. Michelle toasts a half-year on the charts: Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta star K. Michelle’s debut album Rebellious Soul celebrates its half-birthday on the Top Current Albums chart this week. The album was released 26 weeks ago, and is at No. 61 this week, down six spots from last week. Rebellious Soul has sold 219,000 copies to date. Michelle, who is currently on the road supporting Robin Thicke, will star in as-yet-untitled Love & Hip-Hop spin-off later this year that will focus on her music career.
[Photo: Getty Images]