Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” sold more than 1 million copies last week, becoming the first album to cross that one-week sales threshold since 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” in 2005.
Buoyed by the No. 1 single “Lollipop” and strong reviews, “Tha Carter III” sold more than the rest of the Top 10 albums combined and quadrupled Lil Wayne’s previous best showing the 238,000-sales week of “Tha Carter II” in 2005.
Unlike the massive roll-out of Mariah Carey’s “E=MC2 earlier this year, Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” landed the biggest blockbuster opening with a minimum of hype, relying instead on airplay and support from his collaborators, including Kanye West, who blogged about the album, and Jay-Z, who leaked his version of Wayne’s “A Milli” last week.
Rapper Plies debuted at No. 2, with his “Definition for Real” album, while the “Now 28 compilation slipped to No. 3. Last week's No. 1 Disturbed's "Indestructible" slid to No. 4 and Usher's "Here I Stand" dropped to No. 5.
PHOTO: Lil Wayne for Cash Money Records