Rick Ross Rules Billboard 200 with Fifth #1 Album

Rick Ross has topped the Billboard 200 chart once again with his latest album, Mastermind. This marks the fifth album by the rapper to reach #1 on the albums chart.

Mastermind sold 179,000 copies, beating out Pharrell’s new album G I R L, which sold about 112,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Ross’ latest album features many guest rappers, including Jay Z on “The Devil is a Lie,” Jeezy on “War Ready,” and Diddy and French Montana on “Nobody.”  Compared to his other albums, Mastermind speaks more about Ross’ personal experiences, including his previous job as a corrections officer.

“That particular line [on ‘Rich is Gangsta’] most definitely referred to me being a C.O.,” Ross said in an interview on “RapFix Live.” “And that being a job and just understanding the grind and the hustle and anything else I may have done. It’s just a job, it’s a hustle. And right now, to feed my family — I’d do it again.”

Ross now joins the company of DMX and 2Pac, who also have five No. 1 albums. The only rappers to have more than five No. 1 albums are Nas and Kanye West with six, Eminem with seven, and Jay Z with thirteen.

Followed by Pharrell’s G I R L, the Frozen soundtrack nabbed the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200, now selling 1.3 million copies to date. Lea Michele from Glee released her debut album Louder this week, landing at No. 4 with 60,000 copies sold. Country group Eli Young Band rounded out the top 5 with their fifth album, 10,000 Towns, with 36,000 copies.

Last week’s No. 1 album, Oxymoron by ScHoolboy Q, fell to the No. 8 spot this week. Ashanti released Braveheart, her first album since 2008, which debuted at No. 10 and features a song with this week’s No. 1 artist, Rick Ross.