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Kanye West Lands at No. 1 on the Billboard 200

J. Cole takes second place in rap's "biggest week" since 2011.

Official sales numbers are in for the J. Cole-imposed competition with Kanye West and Yeezus lands at No. 1. Cole's Born Sinner and Mac Miller's Watching Movies With the Sound Off enter at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, making it rap's "biggest week" since November 2011, reports Billboard.

The Billboard 200 chart tracks top-selling albums nationwide. The coveted first-week sales often determine the trajectory of an album's overall outcome and strategies for continued marketing.

Kanye, even with the no-marketing marketing strategy, and no single pushed to radio (DJ's, unconventionally, made their own radio edits from the album), earned his sixth straight chart-topping debut, selling 327,000. This puts him in the third slot for biggest openers this year (behind BET Awards performer Justin Timberlake with 968,000 and electro-pop duo Daft Punk with 339,000); and it puts him in a three-way tie with Eminem and Nas for almost the most No. 1's. Jay-Z has the most with 12, including his collaborative project with 'Ye, Watch the Throne.

Jay's Roc Nation signee Cole, who smartly pushed up his album date to go head-to-head with Kanye, sold 297,000. Mac Miller's sophomore album, which also debuted on Music's Super Tuesday 2013 (Jun. 25), sold 102,000.

Hip hop hasn't pushed that many first week units since Drake's Take Care (which opened with 611,000).

Meanwhile, Kelly Rowland, who took a lone stand for R&B that day, respectably took the fourth spot with 68,000 Talk a Good Games sold. 

 

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(Photos from left: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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