Lil Wayneâ€™s â€˜I Am Not a Human Beingâ€™ bounces back to claim Billboard 200 No. 1

Darius Rucker, Sufjan Stevens bow inside the top 10

By Katie Hasty Wednesday, Oct 20, 2010 12:26 PM

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne’s “I Am Not a Human Being” eked out a No. 2 spot earlier this month on The Billboard 200, but this week it bounces back No. 16 to No. 1. Why? The first go-round was a digital-only release, while the physical CD finally hit the shelves last week. The Young Money set sold 125,000 copies, a 443% increase in sales. It’s the biggest leap to the summit on the chart since Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” climbed No. 156 to No. 1 in January 2008, after retailers tried to sell the set before its official release date.

Hootie-turned-country singer Darius Rucker debuts at No. 2 with “Charleston, SC 1966,” with 101,000. His last “Learn to Live,” from 2008, topped out at No. 5 with a 60,000 start.

Big Time Rush, from Nickelodeon, see their debut album “B.T.R.” bow at No. 3 with 67,000. Country act The Band Perry’s self-titled first album starts out at No. 4 with 53,000.

Eminem’s “Recovery” slips No. 4 to No. 5 (50,000, -4%) and Kenny Chesney’s “Hemingway’s Whiskey” slips No. 2 to No. 6 (40,000, -39%).

Sufjan Stevens earns his first top tier debut with “The Age of Adz,” which enters at No. 7 with 36,000. It’s also his best sales week ever.

Zac Brown Band’s “You Get What You Give” dips No. 5 to No. 8 (34,000, -22%) while last week’s chart-topper, Toby Keith’s “Bullets in the Gun,” falls to No. 9.

All That Remains rounds out the top 10 with “For We Are Many” at No. 10 with 29,000. Their last set “Overcome” made it as high as No. 16, with 29,000.

Sales this week are up 2% compared to last week and down 14% compared to the same week last year. Sales are down 14% total so far this year.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.