Madonna and Lionel Richie -- who would have thought that after four weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, only Richie would remain in the top ten and, for the past two weeks, at number one. To compare, Richie's Tuskegee has claimed the top spot on the albums chart for two weeks, while Madonna's MDNA only claimed it for one and is dropping almost as fast as it arrived at the end of March.
Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, April's most anticipated album, hasn't fallen as fast as MDNA, but it's also on decline, landing at number six this week. While Roman Reloaded may have debuted at number one, but it only spent one week at the top -- Tuskegee not only stole the crown from Roman, but has held it for two weeks now.
The highest new entry on the Billboard 200 comes from Jason Mraz, whose Love Is A Four Letter Word bows at number two. Train's new one, California 37, is the second highest debut, landing at number four -- Train's previous album, Save Me San Francisco, debuted thirteen spots lower in 2009.
Adele's 21 drops one spot this week to number three, while One Direction's Up All Night remains at number five for another week. Gotye's Making Mirrors comes in at number seven.
New to the chart, the rapper Future makes his Billboard 200 mark with his first studio release, Pluto. Rounding out the top ten is Bonnie Raitt's Slipstream at number nine and Luke Bryan's Tailgates & Tanlines.
What's most interesting about the Billboard 200 this week is that only three of the ten artists in the top ten also have singles in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. It's a strange situation for today's charts.
Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" featuring Kimbra holds for a second week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. At number two is the previous chart-topper by fun. , "We Are Young."
New to the Billboard Hot 100 this week is Maroon 5's "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa. The song is a midtempo pop jam about a guy reflecting on a failed relationship -- it's an interesting move from a band that is boasting a more radio-friendly pop sound these days, thanks in large part to "Moves Like Jagger" and Adam Levine's stint as a judge on The Voice, where the song premiered on Monday, April 16. Since then, "Payphone" has made history as the best selling digital single by a group, with 493,000 sold, or 28,000 more than the Black Eyed Peas had with "Boom Boom Pow" around this same time three years ago.
Justin Bieber directly follows "Payphone" with the lead single from his new album, Believe, called "Boyfriend." With new pushes from radio and online streaming, on which the track made strong gains this week.
Lower, the battle between the British boy-bands, The Wanted and One Direction, is still going strong. The Wanted is winning again this week, with "Glad You Came" at number five and One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" at number eight. The Wanted will bring the boy-band battle to the albums chart next week, with the release of their first American EP, The Wanted. While it may not take the top spot like One Direction did more than a month ago, the EP will easily fall in the top five.
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