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T.I. Makes Chart History with 'Paper Trail'
The King of the South, T.I., is also the king of the charts as his sixth studio album Paper Trail debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200 selling 568,000 copies in its first week. This marks T.I.’s third consecutive No. 1 album and the best first-week sales of his career. If that wasn’t enough, T.I. is responsible for the biggest sales week for Atlantic Records in the history of the label.
Not only does the Atlanta-bred rapper have the No. 1 album in the U.S., he also has the No. 1 single. “Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna jumps from 80-1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track sold 335,000 downloads this week in the U.S., besting Mariah Carey’s prior digital record of 286,000 downloads for “Touch My Body.”
Six weeks ago, T.I. jumped 71-1 with “Whatever You Like,” which slips to No. 2 this week on the Hot 100. The song remains No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a third week.
Elsewhere on the charts, Jennifer Hudson’s self-titled debut album lands at No. 2 with 217,000, while Robin Thicke’s third album Something Else enters at No. 3 with 137,000.