Furious 7 had an easy cruise to the top of the box office last weekend, but the film’s soundtrack did not meet the same fate. Rapper Wale got in the way, winning the Billboard 200 with his new album, The Album About Nothing.
Wale’s new album, released on March 31, moved 100,000 units during the week ending on April 5, according to Nielsen Music numbers for Billboard. That number includes actual album sales, streams and track downloads.
This is the second time Wale has topped the chart. His 2013 album, The Gifted, also started at No. 1.
Meanwhile, the soundtrack to Universal’s Furious 7 jumped all the way from No. 17 to No. 2 with 74,000 units. It jumped 202 percent thanks to the film finally hitting theaters on April 3. Considering that the film is passing $500 million worldwide, the soundtrack will likely hang around, too.
Furious 7 had the largest single-week jump since the Les Miserables soundtrack climbed 31 spots to No. 2 in January 2013.
Ludacris, who happens to star in Furious 7, came in at No. 3 with Ludaversal. The new album started with 73,000 units.
Kendrick Lamar’s two-week streak at No. 1 obviously ended, but To Pimp A Butterfly still hung around. The album came in at No. 4 with 65,000 units.
Darius Rucker’s Southern Style started at No. 7 with 57,000 units, while Death Cab For Cutie’s Kintsugi debuted at No. 8 with 56,000. The last debut in the Top 10 is Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell at No. 10 with 53,000 units.
Here’s the full top 10: (*new release)
1. Wale, The Album About Nothing* (100,000 units)
2. Furious 7 (74,000)
3. Ludacris, Ludaversal* (73,000)
4. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly (65,000)
5. Taylor Swift, 1989 (59,000)
6. Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour (59,000)
7. Darius Rucker, Southern Style* (57,000)
8. Death Cab For Cutie, Kintsugi* (56,000)
9. Fifty Shades of Grey (54,000)
10. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell* (53,000)
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com