Hip-hop star Trey Songz claimed his second consecutive No. 1 album, as his “Trigga” topped the U.S. album chart amid generally thin holiday-week sales.
Songz’s Atlantic album reaped the top position with sales of 105,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending July 6. His previous release – his fifth studio set, aptly titled “Chapter V” – took the peak in August 2012. “Trigga” was the only set to deliver six-figure sales in the frame.
Four other new releases bowed in the top 10. South African metal band Seether climbed aboard at No. 4 with “Isolate and Medicate” (Bicycle Music), moving 37,000. It’s the band’s first top 10 album, and by far its best-performing release to date; 2011’s “Holding Onto Strings Best Left to Fray” topped out at No. 43.
Canadian reggae unit Magic! made its debut in the top 10 with its first album “Don’t Kill the Magic” (RCA), which landed at No. 6 with sales of 36,000. The quartet went double-platinum in its homeland last year with the single “Rude.”
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Robin Thicke initially failed to duplicate the smash performance of last year’s summertime ubiquity “Blurred Lines,” as his followup collection “Paula” (Interscope) entered at a meek No. 9, tracking 24,000 units. The set is a personal look at his relationship with his estranged wife Paula Patton. The “Blurred Lines” single dominated the mid-year charts in 2013, and its attendant album has sold more than 700,000.
Country rapper Colt Ford notched his second top 10 release with “Thanks For Listening” (Joes Entertainment), which moved in at No. 10 with a 23,000-unit stanza. Ford, who pioneered the now-familiar fusion of country and hip-hop, took the No. 5 slot in 2012 with “Declaration of Independence.”
The week’s holdovers included Ed Sheeran’s “x” (No. 2, 53,000 sold, down 75%), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (No. 3, 45,000, off 33%), the “Frozen” soundtrack (No. 5, 37,000, down 2%), Miranda Lambert’s “Platinum” (No. 7, 25,000, off 12%) and Lana Del Rey’s “Ultraviolence” (No. 8, 25,000, down 44%).
Vocalist Sia’s “1000 Forms of Fear” is aiming for a high-profile debut next week.
