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It's Official: As expected, Drake's "Nothing Was the Same" has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with the second-largest sales week of 2013.

The album, the hip-hop star's third full-length release, sold 658,000 copies in its first week (ending Sunday, Sept. 29) according to Nielsen SoundScan. The only album to sell more copies in a week this year was Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience," when it bowed at No. 1 with 968,000 following its release in March.

"Nothing Was the Same" also gives Drake his personal best week ever. His last album, 2011's "Take Care," started at No. 1 with 631,000. His full-length debut, "Thank Me Later," launched with 447,000 at No. 1 in 2010. The year before that, his debut EP, "So Far Gone," bowed and peaked at No. 6 with 73,000.

His debut is impressive, considering the set leaked to the internet a little more than a week before it hit retail. The album reached the Web on Sept. 15 -- well before its Sept. 24 street date. Of course, leaks are commonplace, especially with hip-hop releases. 

Drake's arrival with "Nothing Was the Same" is also the biggest week for any rap album since September of 2011, when Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV" debuted at No. 1 with 964,000.

via ~ billboard

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