Drake’s new album, Nothing Was The Same, debuted at #1 overall this week, topping Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart. The collection moved 658,637 units, a number close to the projected figure. Yesterday (October 1), it was reported that Nothing Was The Same was projected to sell between 660,000 and 670,000 copies its first week in retailers, according to the huffingtonpost.com.

Nothing Was The Same has the second-highest first week album sales figures of the year. Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience sold 968,000 units during its first week in retailers in March. Timberlake is expected to approach similar figures with this week’s release of The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2. Those figures are set to be included in next week’s report. For now, Drake’s Nothing Was The Same remains the album with the second-highest first week sales of 2013.

Drake’s Nothing Was The Same Moves Over 650,000 Units

Drake’s Nothing was the Same is the only Rap/R&B album in the Top 10 this week. The release, which features guest appearances from Jay Z, Sampha, Majid Jordan and Jhene Aiko, is the third #1 album for the Ontario rapper-singer. It follows 2010’s Thank Me Later, which sold 447,000 copies its first week and 2011’s Take Care, which sold approximately 631,000 units its first week. Before Nothing Was The Same was released, Drake spoke about expectations regarding the project. “Best advice I ever got is: No expectations lead to no disappointments,” Drake said. “So I have no expectations…Really, just more than September 24, I’m just excited whenever people get the music. The numbers, the sales, all that stuff, it’s cool. I’m sure I’ll get into it on the day like, ‘How much did we sell,’ trying to figure it out, but aside from that, I’m just excited for people to hear the full body of work.”

2 Chainz Remains In Top 15 With B.O.A.T.S. II #MeTime

2 Chainz’ B.O.A.T.S. II #MeTime opened at #3 in its first week. Last week, the album dropped to #7 and this week to #15. This week, Chainz moved over 16,000 units. 2 Chainz also appears on the #1 album overall, as the T.R.U. rapper is featured on Drake’s additional deluxe version track, “All Me,” which also includes Big Sean. Chainz and Drake have had a history of collaborating, as the pair worked together on 2012’s “No Lie” and more recently on B.O.A.T.S. II’s “I Do It.” Chainz and Drake are the Top 2 sellers in Hip Hop this week.

Jay Z’s Magna Carta…Holy Grail Hits A Milestone

Jay Z’s Magna Carta…Holy Grail passed the double platinum threshold this week. The album sold a million copies to Samsung before it was released due to Jay Z’s #NewRules deal which gave away a million digital versions of the album prior to the project’s physical release date. Now, the album has reached a new milestone, selling over a million more copies. After 12 weeks, Jay Z landed at #27 on the charts, moving approximately 14,000 units this week.

Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/30/2013

#1. Drake – Nothing Was The Same – 659,000 (659,000)

#15. 2 Chainz – B.O.A.T.S. II #MeTime – 17,000 (115,000)

#19. MMG – MMG Presents: Self Made Vol. 3 – 16,000 (66,000)

#21. The Weeknd – Kiss Land – 15,000 (137,000)

#26. Tamar Braxton – Love & War – 14,000 (183,000)

#27. Jay Z – Magna Carta…Holy Grail – 14,000 (1,004,000)

#47. Janelle Monae – The Electric Lady – 9,000 (72,000)

#49. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – The Heist – 9,000 (1,089,000)

#62. Juicy J – Stay Trippy – 7,000 (114,000)

#67. Elvis Costello & The Roots – Wise Up Ghosts And Other Songs – 6,000 (25,000)

#66. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city – 6,000 (1,046,000)

* data comes from Nielsen Soundscan, rounded to nearest thousand for units above 10,000, nearest hundred for units below 10,000. Each week, HipHopDX presents top albums in Hip Hop/related, and five notables.

Will Justin Timberlake top Drake’s sales next week? Stay tuned to HipHopDX.

Last Week’s Album Sales.

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