T.I. Ends Metallica's Billboard Reign With Paper Trail

Jennifer Hudson, Robin Thicke and Jack's Mannequin also debut in top 10. By Chris Harris T.I.'s <i>Paper Trail</i> Photo: Atlantic Records With four huge, high-profile releases hitting record stores last week, Metallica 's run at #1 was expected to expire Wednesday morning (October 8), when Nielsen SoundScan released the latest album sales figures, gleaned from retailers all across the nation. And as predicted, rapper T.I. 's Paper Trail has, indeed, dethroned the heavy metal icons' Death Magnetic to take control of next week's Billboard top 200. With sales registered at 568,000 and change, Paper Trail also marks the best first week of any of the rapper's releases. While Paper Trail becomes T.I.'s third-straight LP to open at #1, he managed to shatter his own sales record, eclipsing those generated by 2006's King, which opened on top with nearly 522,000 sold, and 2007's T.I. vs. T.I.P., which entered the chart at #1 with about 468,000 scans. ... (link)