For the first time in 15 years, a Christian album is No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
“Eye on It†(ForeFront) by TobyMac, a former member of the Christian rap group DC Talk, topped this week's chart with 69,000 sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. According to Billboard, it was the first time a Christian album has been No. 1 since 1997 - when LeAnn Rimes's “You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs†and Bob Carlisle's “Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace)†both reached the top - and only the third time ever.
But a number of Christian albums have reached high in the Top 10 recently, by Casting Crowns, the David Crowder Band and the participants of Passion, a youth conference. Depending on whe ther you see the music industry's glass as half-empty or half-full, this either points to a long-running genre that has built a healthy audience over time or simply done a better job holding on while most other music sales have tanked. According to Billboard, 27 percent of TobyMac's sales came from Christian retailers and bookstores.
Also this week, the hip-hop all-star team Slaughterhouse - with Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I and Royce da 5'9†- opened at No. 2 with its second album, “Welcome to: Our House†(Shady/Interscope), which sold 52,000 copies. Alanis Morissette reached the Top 10 for a sixth time with her latest album, “Havoc and Bright Lights†(Collective Sounds), at No. 5 with 33,000 sales.
The R&B singer Trey Songz fell two spots to No. 3 with 41,000 sales of “Chapter V†(Songbook/Atlantic), and “Now That's What I Call Music!†Vol. 43 fell one to No. 4 with slightly less than 41,000. (SoundScan's publicly reported numbers are ro unded.)
Taylor Swift's new song, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together†holds for a third week as the most popular download, with 253,000 sales, bringing its total to just under 1.2 million.
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