Jay Z’s ‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’ stays on top of Billboard 200

Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail� is still No. 1.

The hip-hop mogul’s latest disc easily held onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 for a second week, selling 129,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The disc debuted at No. 1 last week with 527,000, the year’s second-biggest opening after Justin Timberlake’s comeback record, “The 20/20 Experience,� moved nearly 1 million when it was released in March.

Jay’s 12th solo effort continues a hot streak of rap albums consecutively topping the chart, starting with Jay’s collaborator/friend Kanye West early last month. Recent efforts from Wale and J. Cole knocked one another off before Jay’s album debuted.

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“Magna Carta� was released with instant platinum certification thanks to a controversial deal the rapper struck with Samsung. The electronics giant pre-purchased 1 million copies for a reported $5 a pop, and they were given away through a smartphone app.

Although those sales didn’t count toward Jay-Z’s first-week sales for the Billboard 200, the Recording Industry Assn. of America announced that it would alter its rulebook and start counting digital sales toward gold and platinum certification immediately, rather than wait the traditional 30 days after an album’s release.

“Magna Carta� is the first rap album in almost two years to spend two consecutive weeks at No. 1, according to Billboard. The last album to do so was Lil Wayne’s 2011 chart smash, “Tha Carter IV.�

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