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Lil Wayne‘s `Tha Carter III‘ sells 1 million
Staff and agencies
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer 3 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Lil Wayne now has official numbers to back up his bragging — the rapper‘s new CD has sold a spectacular 1 million copies its first week.
A prolific rapper who‘s been ubiquitous on the mixtape scene and on other acts‘ records, Lil Wayne is generally regarded as one of rap‘s most gifted performers — but he‘s never had a multiplatinum album. His last two albums, "Tha Carter" and "Tha Carter II," sold 1.1 million and 1.4 million copies, respectively. "Tha Carter III" was anticipated as the CD that would send the New Orleans rapper into superstardom.
"He worked hard. He just came with something different. He let his skills show on a lot of mixtapes. He‘s featured on a lot of people‘s records," Williams said. "It just made people anticipate his record more than ever."
In a slumping industry where selling 200,000 albums in one week is becoming a rare feat, Lil Wayne‘s achievement is not only a triumph but a much-needed boost — the last CD to sell 1 million or more in its first week was 50 Cent‘s "The Massacre" in 2005.
Lil Wayne, 25, has been a star on the rap scene since he was a teen, but only in recent years has his star rivaled that of contemporaries like West and heroes like Lil Wayne — both of whom are contributors on his new CD.
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