Justin Timberlake has been perhaps the most successful performer to date during 2013, with his The 20/20 Experience Part One having the highest-selling debut week of the year. And "2 of 2" didn't do too badly either, as you'll see.
BIG DEBUTS
Justin Timberlake topped the Billboard 200 with The 20/20 Experience, 2 of 2, making it a total of four weeks that the pop star has topped the album sales chart this year. Although 350,000 sounds great to most musicians, the number pales in comparison to the Part One's 968,000 first-week sales (the dip might be due to poor reviews).
Lorde, the rising New Zealander who's topped the downloads charts for three weeks, released her debut album Pure Heroine at no. 3 with 129,000 copies sold, and country musician Tyler Farr's debut album Redneck Crazy sold 29,000 copies. The final new album this week (also a debut) is HAIM's Days Are Gone, which sold 26,000 copies, 85 percent of which were downloads. HAIM can take solace in the fact that they topped the U.K.'s Billboard charts however.
BIG RETURNS
Drake can be forgiven for not beating Timberlake's debut, but his Nothing Was The Same sold an impressive number for its second week, moving another 148,000 copies and keeping the rapper at no. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Luke Bryan has been a mainstay in the Top 10 since its debut eight weeks ago, and this week Crash My Party sold another 32,000 copies and pushed the record past platinum status. The country star has been the closest competition for Timberlake this year in terms of sales, as he's spent three weeks atop the Billboard 200 between his two releases.
HANGING IN THERE
The Kings of Leon hung around for a second week, selling just under 26,000 more copies of Mechanical Bull and taking the no. 7 spot. Cher sold 25,000 second-week copies of Closer to The Truth, and Elton John sold 19,000 second-week copies of The Diving Board, to place at nos. 8 and 10, respectively. Jack Johnson is the only other performer aside from Bryan to last more than two weeks, with his From Here to Now to You selling 20,000 copies in its third week.
