LOS ANGELES — Rapper Drake vaulted straight to No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, as his latest album garnered the second-largest sales week of the year so far. “Nothing Was the Same,” the third studio album from the Canadian rapper, sold 658,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Only Justin Timberlake's “The 20/20 Experience,” which opened with 968,000 copies in March, outsold “Nothing Was the Same” in a one-week period. All three of Drake's studio albums have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and “Nothing Was the Same” is the biggest opening week for a rap album since the September 2011 debut of Lil Wayne's “Tha Carter IV.” Drake's latest came in ahead of six other new debuts in the top 10 of the album chart this week. Nashville rockers Kings of Leon entered the chart at No. 2 with their latest album “Mechanical Bull” selling 110,000 copies. Pop singers Cher and Elton John landed behind Kings of Leon, with the dance diva's latest album “Closer to the Truth” at No. 3 and the British pianist's “Diving Board” at No. 4.— Reuters
