Chart Juice: A$AP Rocky's 'Long'-Awaited Day

The Associated Press, Thursday, January 24, 2013, 4:00pm (PST)

Billboard --

A$AP Rocky lands the year's first new No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, as his debut set "Long.Live.A$AP" opens with 138,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Harlem newcomer's highly anticipated release marks the biggest debut on the chart since T.I. 's "Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head" sold 179,000 copies during the Christmas tracking week (chart dated Jan. 5). In terms of new artists, A$AP Rocky's debut is the biggest since Meek Mill sold 165,000 with "Dreams and Nightmares" in the Nov. 17, 2012 chart week.

R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

The rest of this week's top five on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is highly contested: the albums are separated by less than 700 units. Rihanna 's "Unapologetic" remains at No. 2 with 19,000 copies (down 18%) while the aforementioned "Trouble Man" falls 1-3 with a 19% decline to less than 19,000. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "The Heist" sells another nearly 19,000 copies (up 9%) to step up 5-4 with the greatest unit increase of the week and Kendrick Lamar 's "good kid, m.A.A.d city" slips 3-5 with 18,000 copies (down 4%) to round out the top five.

Speaking of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, over on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the duo's "Thrift Shop" (featuring Wanz) racks a second week at No. 1 thanks in part to its new digital sales high of 341,000 downloads last week. The song's previous best was 304,000 in the Jan. 12 frame. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' breakout single also steps to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this week, crowning it the No. 1 song in the country.

R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Justin Timberlake 's comeback single "Suit & Tie," featuring Jay-Z, takes off 27-2 with 54 million listener impressions, according to Nielsen BDS, and 315,000 downloads in its first full week of data (second week on the list). Expect it to continue gaining in the upcoming weeks and challenge the now-reigning "Thrift Shop" for the top of the chart.

Timberlake's swift move displaces the rest of R&B/Hip-Hop Songs' top 10 with Rihanna's "Diamonds" falling 2-3, Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" dipping 3-4, and A$AP Rocky's "F**kin Problems" sliding 4-5 (despite rising 11% to 41 million overall listener impressions with the week's biggest increase in audience). Correspondingly, the Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar-assisted single reaches new peaks on the Rhythmic (7-2), R&B/Hip-Hop (9-3), and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop (9-5) airplay charts.

Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools (Drank)" (5-6), 2 Chainz "I'm Different" (6-7), GOOD Music's "Clique" (7-8), and Miguel's "Adorn" (8-9) all also tumble one spot while Trinidad James' "All Gold Everything" breaks into the top 10 for the first time skipping 12-10 in its eighth week on the list.

Coming back to A$AP Rocky, six new "Long.Live.A$AP" tracks enter the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart thanks primarily to high digital sales and streaming numbers. The album's highest debut on the chart is "Wild for the Night," featuring EDM producer Skrillex, at No. 26 with 37,000 downloads. Altogether, tracks from A$AP Rocky's freshman release sold 236,000 downloads in the set's first week of availability.

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Find more online: Billboard.com