Drake debuts at No. 1 with 'Nothing Was the Same'

By Mikael Wood

Oct. 2, 2013 10:17 AM PT

He may have started from the bottom, but now he’s on top.

Drake’s latest album, “Nothing Was the Same,” entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 this week, reflecting sales of 658,000 copies, according to the trade magazine.

That’s the second-biggest sales week for any record so far this year, behind only Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience,” which debuted atop the album chart in March with just under 1 million copies sold. (A sequel to Timberlake’s disc, “The 20/20 Experience -- 2 of 2,” came out Monday.)

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In a detailed post, Billboard’s Keith Caulfield wrote that Drake’s performance with “Nothing Was the Same,” his third full-length, marks the Toronto rapper’s best-ever showing on the tally -- a noteworthy achievement in a music industry whose overall sales continue to slide.

But Drake isn’t the only artist with a new album near the top of the chart this week.

Kings of Leon entered at No. 2 with “Mechanical Bull,” the Tennessee rock band’s first set since ending a brief hiatus. And after that it’s records by a pair of entertainment icons, both of whom Pop & Hiss recently chatted up: Cher at No. 3 with “Closer to the Truth” and Elton John at No. 4 with “The Diving Board.”

In other chart news, digital sales of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” -- the early-1970s power-pop tune prominently featured in Sunday night’s “Breaking Bad” finale -- rose 2981% over the previous week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while radio spins of the song Monday jumped more than 1000% compared to the previous Monday.

Listen to “Baby Blue” -- and remember our old friend Walter White -- below.