(Reuters) – Rapper Rick Ross notched his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday, as his solo album “God Forgives, I Don’t,” knocked country group Zac Brown Band to claim the top spot.
Ross, who founded the Maybach Music Group, sold 218,000 copies of his latest album according to Nielsen SoundScan, scoring his best sales week to date. Sales were fueled by a special offer on Amazon MP3, that priced “God Forgives, I Don’t” at $5 for the month of August. Ross’ chart-topping debut placed Zac Brown Band’s “Uncaged” at No. 2, selling 39,000 copies, with a sales difference of 179,000 copies between the No. 1 and the No. 2 albums on this week’s chart.
Canadian pop phenomenon Justin Bieber climbed back up to No. 3 this week with “Believe”, while British boy band One Direction took No. 4 with “Up All Night”.
The Amazon MP3 offers have had a significant impact on the album charts in recent weeks, as old albums gain sales surges from cut price offers, such as Phil Collins’ 1998 “Hits…” compilation, which ranked No. 6 last week.
This week, the Bee Gees were the latest to experience the Amazon effect, as their 2004 “Number Ones” compilation album came in at No. 5 on the Billboard chart, selling 32,000 copies after Amazon priced it at 99 cents for two days last week.
The only other new entry in the top ten this week was British singer Joss Stone with her sixth studio album “The Soul Sessions Volume 2,” which came in at No. 10.
