Thursday

Rapper Big Sean beats Kid Rock to top of Billboard 200 chart


Rapper Big Sean topped the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday for the first time, beating out rocker Kid Rock.

Big Sean's "Dark Sky Paradise" sold 139,000 album copies, 218,000 songs and was streamed more than 17 million times, tallying 172,000 total units in its debut on the chart, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Kid Rock's "First Kiss" entered at No. 2 with 146,000 total album units, while the soundtrack to Universal Pictures' steamy hit film "Fifty Shades of Grey" remained steady at No. 3 with 108,000 copies sold.

The only other new entry in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart, which tallies album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album), was "Fan of a Fan: The Album," by rappers Chris Brown and Tyga at No. 7, selling 67,000 units.

Last week's chart-toppers, alt-rockers Imagine Dragons' "Smoke + Mirrors," dropped to No. 9 this week.

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' upbeat "Uptown Funk!" held steady at No. 1 with 240,000 downloads in the past week. -- Reuters