Usher Tops Billboard Chart With Looking 4 Myself

Singer's seventh album give him his fourth #1 debut in a row.
By Gil Kaufman

<P><a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/usher/artist.jhtml"><B>Usher</B></a> is setting a fine example for his protégé, <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/bieber_justin/artist.jhtml"><B>Justin Bieber</B></a>. A week before the Biebs plans to storm the charts with his eagerly anticipated <a href="/news/articles/1687837/justin-bieber-live-behind-the-scenes.jhtml"><I>Believe</I></a>&#8232;, Ush will debut in the #1 spot on the <I>Billboard</I> 200 chart with his seventh album, <a href="/news/articles/1687242/usher-looking-4-myself-reviews.jhtml"><I>Looking 4 Myself</I></a>.</P><P>According to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, he sold 128,000 copies of the disc. The debut was the fourth #1 bow in a row for Usher, though it was significantly down from the 329,000 copies sold by his previous album, 2010's <I>Raymond V. Raymond</I>.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="MTV News Extended Play: Usher" id="id:1686957" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>The figures were not nearly what Bieber's expected to pull next week, but they were enough to hold back prog rock icons <B>Rush</B>, whose <I>Clockwork Angels</I> clocked in at #2 on sales of 103,000. The other debuts in the top 10 came from country singer <B>Josh Turner</B>, who hit #4 with <I>Punching Bag</I> (45,000), British singer/songwriter sensation <B>Ed Sheeran</B>'s <I>+</I> (42,000) and hyped rapper <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/waka_flocka_flame/artist.jhtml"><B>Waka Flocka Flame</B></a>'s <I>Triple F Life: Friends, Fans &amp; Family</I> (33,000).</P><P>The rest of the top 10: <B>Adele</B>, <I>21</I> (#3, 63,000), <B>One Direction</B>, <I>Up All Night</I> (#6, 39,000), <B>Neil Young &amp; Crazy Horse</B>, <I>Americana</I> (#7, 37,000), <B>Alan Jackson</B>, <I>Thirty Miles West</I> (#8, 37,000) and the "Rock of Ages" soundtrack (#9, 36,000).</P><P><B>Metric</B> debuted at #12 with <I>Synthetica</I> (27,000), while festival faves <B>Grace Potter &amp; The Nocturnals</B> jammed into the #17 slot with their latest, <I>The Lion The Beast The Beat</I> (24,000) and TV funnyman <B>Jimmy Fallon</B> hit #25 with his all-star comedy effort <I>Blow Your Pants Off</I> (15,000).</P><P>Usher topped the iTunes album chart as well, followed by Sheeran, Rush, "Rock of Ages," rapper <B>Kid Ink</B>'s "Up &amp; Away," One Direction, Waka, Adele, <B>John Mayer</B>'s <I>Born and Raised</i> and <B>Fun.</B>'s <I>Some Nights</I>.</P><P>On the iTunes single chart, <B>Carly Rae Jepsen</B> continued to top the list with "Call Me Maybe," with <B>Maroon 5</B> just behind with "Payphone," then <B>Katy Perry</B>'s "Wide Awake," Bieber's "As Long As You Love Me," <B>Gotye</B>'s "Somebody That I Used to Know" and <B>Pitbull</B>'s "Back in Time." Rounding out the list at #7 was Usher's "Scream," <B>Rihanna</B>'s "Where Have You Been," <B>One Direction</B>'s "What Makes You Beautiful" and Bieber's "Boyfriend." Bieber is expected to blow everyone out of the box next week with <I>Believe</I>, which could score the biggest first frame of the year.</P><P>Other new releases include the latest from <a href="/news/articles/1686557/fiona-apple-idler-wheel-btts.jhtml"><B>Fiona Apple</B></a>&#8232;, <B>Kenny Chesney</B>, <a href="/news/articles/1687831/smashing-pumpkins-oceania-billy-corgan.jhtml"><B>Smashing Pumpkins</B></a>&#8232; and <B>Walk the Moon</B>.</p>

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http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1687847/usher-billboard-looking-4-myself.jhtml

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