14 DAY TRIAL // Eminem’s brand new album, “Marshall Mathers LP 2,” out in stores since November 5, has lived up to its hype, moving 792,000 copies in its first week to become the second biggest debut of the year, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures cited by Billboard magazine.
Though the album sold better than initial estimates, it still fell short of the 968,000 copies Justin Timberlake sold of his album “The 20/20 Experience” in March. However, truth be told now, Eminem didn’t take a 6-year hiatus from music to record “MMLP2,” which is what happened to JT before his most recent studio album.
Either way, Eminem has a lot to be happy about because, as it turns out, his new album is a hit with fans and critics alike. It’s also his seventh consecutive number 1 and has managed to outsell his previous releases, “Recovery” (2010) and “Relapse” (2009).
“‘MMLP2’ also logs the sixth-biggest sales week of the past five years. Since November of 2008, the only larger weeks were earned by Taylor Swift's ‘Red’ (2012, 1.2 million its debut), Lady Gaga's ‘Born This Way’ (2011, 1.1 million debut), Swift's ‘Speak Now’ (2010, 1 million debut), Timberlake and Lil Wayne's ‘Tha Carter IV’ (2011, 964,000 debut),” Billboard says.
We’ll see how “MMLP2” holds up in its second week.