Eminem says he feels disrespected for not topping certain best emcee lists, but no one can deny his No. 1 status on this week’s Billboard 200.
As expected by industry analysts, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” is top dog on the charts with the second best sales week of 2013. “MMLP2” moved 792,000 units, even more than the predicted 750,000, according to Billboard.
The only artist Mr. Mathers could not pass this calendar year is Justin Timberlake, whose “20/20 Experience” opened at No.1 in March with an impressive 968,000 copies sold. Slim Shady topped 2013’s previous runner-up, Drake‘s ‘Nothing Was the Same,” which debuted with 658,000 units moved.
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“MMLP2,” Eminem‘s seventh consecutive No. 1 album, also ranks the sixth-biggest sales week of the past five years. As a matter of fact, the rapper’s only major release to not debut in the top slot was his first: 1999’s “The Slim Shady LP,” which opened and peaked at No. 2.
The latest offering posts a larger debut than Eminem‘s well-received last album, 2010’s “Recovery,” which started with 741,000.
Last week, Eminem became the first artist since the Beatles in 1964 to have four singles in the top 20.