(EUR) – Chrisette Michele has scored her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as her sophomore set ‘Epiphany’ (Def Jam) debuts atop the list with 83,000. However, it’s the lowest sum for a No. 1-debuting album in Nielsen SoundScan’s 18-year history.
The last chart-topping album to hold that title was Johnny Cash’s ‘American V: A Hundred Highways’ (American) in the summer of 2006, when it started with 88,000. Only one other album has debuted at No. 1 with less than 100,000: the Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘#1’s’ (Bad Boy) in November of 2005 with 99,000.
Michelle edges out the seventh week of the ‘Hannah Montana: the Movie’ soundtrack (No. 2 with 82,000) and the arrival of Ciara’s third album ‘Fantasy Ride’ (LaFace) at No. 3 with just under 81,000.
‘Fantasy Ride’ is her third top three debut in as many tries. Her freshman 2004 effort ‘Goodies’ entered the list at No. 3 with 125,000 while 2006’s ‘The Evolution’ blasted onto the tally at No. 1 with 338,000. Seemingly, despite the fair amount of heat generated by ‘Fantasy Ride’s’ first single — “Love Sex Magic” (featuring Justin Timberlake) — the album clocks Ciara’s lowest first-week sum yet.
