"The Gifted" Wale Snags The Billboard Top Spot From Kanye's "Yeezus"

This week introduced an unexpected change in the Billboard chart – rapper Wale came out of the blue to claim the top spot in the chart with his brand new album, The Gifted. Wale snatched the number one from Kanye’s Yeezus, which this week had an 80% drop in sales, taking the record down to number 3. Yeezus only managed to sell 65,000 copies this week, which is respectable, but still nothing compared to last week’s 324,000.

Wale emerged seemingly out of nowhere to dominate the Billboard chart this week.

This debut marks Wale’s first crack at the Billboard number one. The closest the rapper had come previously was his previous release, 2011’s Ambition, which entered the chart at number two and never went any higher than that. The album sold a respectable 164,000 that week, however had to take the second spot after Justin Bieber’s Under the Mistletoe debuted with over 210,000 copies sold.

J. Cole is still staying strong in second place.

Apparently this is Wale’s lucky week though, because The Gifted sold a more modest 158,000 copies and still made the chart ahead of West’s Yeezus and J. Cole’s Born Sinner (84,000 copies sold this week), which debuted last week, proving once again that timing is everything. At least when it comes to chart positions, that is. Christian rock band Skillet make a surprising appearance at number four with their latest offering – Rise. The album also topped the Rock and Christian charts this week.

While Kanye dropped to third.