Despite Internet leaks and bootlegging of Lil Wayne’s new album “Tha Carter III,” it managed to sell 423,000 copies in its first day of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The sales figure puts him on track to move about 900,000 copies of the CD in its first week and post the best sales debut of the year, reports Billboard.
Last year’s first-week top-seller was from Kanye West, who sold some 957,000 copies of “Graduation.” The year’s title goes to Mariah Carey’s “E=MC2,” which sold about 463,000 in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“Tha Carter III,” which finally hit stores on Tuesday after repeated delays due to leaks and bootlegging, is expected to be the album that catapults the critically acclaimed rapper into pop superstardom.
The set’s single, “Lollipop,” has owned the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 pop chart for the past five weeks. His last two albums, “Tha Carter” and “Tha Carter II,” sold 1.1 million and 1.4 million copies, respectively.
Information from Nielsen SoundScan contributed to this report.
