New albums from Ashanti, Pharrell Williams and Rick Ross have debuted on the coveted Billboard charts.
Led by the single "I Got It," R&B princess Ashanti debuted well on three charts with "Braveheart" Thursday.
Released via her imprint Written Entertainment and eOne, "Braveheart" sold a total of 28,000 copies within the first week. That total gave the album a top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album also debuted at number two on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and number four on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.
Next up is Pharrell, who has been enjoying whirlwind success with the hit single "Happy." In addition to that song claiming no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a third week, Pharrell's album, "GIRL," has debuted at no.2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Exceeding projections, 112,000 copies of the album were sold within its first week, also placing the album at no.1 on the R&B Albums chart and no.2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums tally.
Finally, Rick Ross won the battle on the charts this week with the release of his album, "Mastermind."
Topping both the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, "Mastermind" moved 179,000 copies first week.
"While it starts with slightly fewer sales than his last album — 2012's "God Forgives, I Don't" launched at No. 1 with 218,000 — the first-week sales for "Mastermind" are about on par with Ross' usual debut frames. "God Forgives" is Ross' best sales week ever, while his five other major-label releases have bowed with a start between 158,000 and 198,000," reports Billboard. "Among all rap acts, Ross joins just a handful of artists that have notched five No. 1 albums. DMX and 2Pac also have five No. 1s, while Nas and Kanye West each have six. Eminem has seven, and Jay Z leads with 13."
