Chart Toppers
BET.com takes a look at artists who have struck gold in their first week
1 / 24
Sade - Sade's "Soldier of Love" scored the highest first week of her career by selling 501,000 units this past week.
2 / 24
Lil Wayne - Despite a deteriorating climate, Weezy managed the impossible when "The Carter III" sold just over 1 million copies back in 2008.
3 / 24
50 Cent - Fif's "Get Rich Or Die Trying" sold 872,000 CDs in only four days. "The Massacre," his second LP, sold 1.1 million in its first week while its follow up, "Curtis" moved 691,000 sets.
4 / 24
50 Cent - Fif's "Get Rich Or Die Trying" sold 872,000 CDs in only four days. "The Massacre," his second LP, sold 1.1 million in its first week while its follow up, "Curtis" moved 691,000 sets.
5 / 24
Usher - After releasing two multiplatinum albums, Usher amazingly topped himself by selling 1.1 copies of his "Confessions" album back in 2004.
ADVERTISEMENT
6 / 24
Eminem - Hip-Hop's original Million Soundscan Man, Eminem sold 1.79 copies of "The Marshall Mathers LP" and moved 1.32 million of "The Eminem Show" two years later. Since then, "Encore" has sold an impressive 760,000 CDs in its first week while his most recent release, "Relapse," sold 608,000 albums.
7 / 24
Kanye West - The Louis Vuitton Don has flirted with the Million Soundscan club twice in his career. His "Late Registration" sold 896,000 copies back in 2005 and "Graduation" sold 957,000 in one week in 2007.
8 / 24
Alicia Keys - Ms. Keys has struck gold within a week several times before. Her sophomore album, "The Diary of Alicia Keys" sold 618,000 copies in its first week and its follow up, "As I Am" moved 742,000 units in seven days.
9 / 24
Mary J. Blige - MJB delivered one of her best and highest-selling albums in years with 2005's "Breakthrough." The CD moved 729,000 sets in its first week.
10 / 24
Nelly - Not too many artists sold more records than Nelly back in the early 2000s. His second disc, "Nellyville" sold 714,000 records on its way to sell six million units.
ADVERTISEMENT
11 / 24
Jay-Z - Jay-Z routinely sells half a million in a week. "The Blueprint," "Blueprint 2," "Roc La Familia" and "Kingdome Come" all sold well over 500k their first week.
12 / 24
Janet Jackson - A Soundscan giant in her own right, JJ hadn't surpassed the 500k mark in a week until 2001's "All For You." Lead by the title track, the CD sold 605,000 copies in its first week.
13 / 24
Jamie Foxx - More than a decade after his debut album thanked, Jamie Foxx finally struck gold with "Unpredictable." The CD sold 597,000 in a week.
14 / 24
Beyonce - Beyonce's sophomore LP, B' Day, went gold in one week, selling 541,000 CDs. She's also broken the gold barrier as a member of Destiny's Child.
15 / 24
R. Kelly - The self-proclaimed Pied Piper is no stranger to charts. His TP-2.com sold 543,000 in a week back in 2000 and three years later, "The Chocolate Factory" sold an impressive 532,000 in one week.
ADVERTISEMENT
16 / 24
T.I. - Tip topped the charts for the first time when his 2006 album, "King" sold 523,407 copies in its first week. Two years later, "Paper Trail" scanned 568,000 units in a week.
17 / 24
Ashanti - With red-hot Murder Inc. backing her up, Ashanti self-titled debut sold 501,000 CDs in its first week back in 2002.
18 / 24
Diddy - On the heels of his "I'll Be Missing You" single, Diddy's "No Way Out" sold 561,000 units in its first week back in 1997.
19 / 24
The Notorious B.I.G. - Only a few weeks after his untimely death, Biggie's posthumous "Life After Death" sold 690,000 copies in its first week.
20 / 24
Tupac Shakur - Barely two months after his death, Pac's "The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory" launched a series of high-selling posthumous releases by selling 663,000 CDs in one week.
ADVERTISEMENT