Rapper Eminem topped the Billboard 200 album chart this week thanks to his new album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which earned the second-biggest debut of 2013.
MMLP 2 sold a whopping 792,000 copies during its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers, notes Billboard. That’s behind only Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience for the best sales week of the year. By comparison, The 20/20 Experience kicked off its run in March with 968,000 copies sold.
Billboard also notes that MMLP 2 had the sixth-biggest sales week in the past five years. During that stretch, only Taylor Swift’s Red and Speak Now and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way have sold over 1 million copies in a week.
This is also Eminem’s seventh No. 1 album. His only release that didn’t reach No. 1 was his first, 1999’s The Slim Shady LP. That started at No. 2.
This week’s chart was incredibly top heavy, as well. MMLP 2 sold more than the albums in the No. 2-32 slots combined.
Celine Dion’s Loved Me Back To Life started its chart run at No. 2 with 77,000 copies sold. It’s her best chart debut since 2003’s One Heart started at No. 2, although it’s her smallest English-language album start in two decades.
Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas, featuring the stars of Duck Dynasty, rose to No. 3 with 73,000 copies. Katy Perry’s PRISM sold another 61,000 copies, which was good for the No. 4 slot. Avril Lavigne’s self-titled set came in fifth with 44,000 copies.
The rest of the Top 10 includes Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red (43,000); Drake’s Nothing was the Same (37,000); Lorde’s Pure Heroine (35,000); Arcade Fire’s Reflektor (31,000); Pentatonix’s PTX: Vol. II (31,000).
Reflektor had topped the charts last week, selling 140,000 copies. It fell to No. 9 this week, dropping 77 percent to 31,000 copies.
A Great Big World was helped out by The Voice topping the Digital Songs Chart with “Say Something.” The song, which features Christina Aguilera, sold 189,000 downloads.