Whether his “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” can break the recent streak of disappointing album sales figures remains to be seen, but Eminem is definitely proving he can move singles.
His latest Rihanna collaboration “The Monster,” which released this week, maintains a dominant position atop the iTunes US Single Sales chart. As of press time, its sales pace was twice that of One Direction’s “Story of My Life,” which fell to second once “Monster” made its climb.
Impressive in its own right, “The Monster” does not reflect the rapper’s only presence in the top ten. Demonstrative of his chart dominance, Eminem’s “Survival” and “Rap God” are also holding ground in the chart’s upper portion. At press time, “Survival” was iTunes’ fourth-best-seller, while “Rap God” was its seventh.
And just for good measure, Eminem also claims number eleven with “Berzerk.”
Projected to be one of the year’s biggest sellers, Eminem’s “MMLP2,” which releases next week, aspires to do what recent releases from Katy Perry and Arcade Fire could not do: live up to sales expectations.
— Other chart stories: Lorde’s “Royals” continues to sell; the song, which has claimed number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, sits at number three on the iTunes chart. Fifth place, meanwhile, belongs to Passenger’s “Let Her Go,” which was Christened a hit after it ascended into the top ten this week.
Katy Perry’s “Roar” (#6), Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” (#8), OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” (#9) and Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” (#10) are also in the iTunes Top Ten.