Eminem and his star power almost surely guarantees heavy sales on any project that bears his name and the trend continued this week as Slim Shady’s newest release Hell: The Sequel – alongside longtime friend Royce Da 5’9 as Bad Meets Evil – gets the distinction of debuting atop the Billboard 200 charts.
For Eminem, the Billboard position is a familiar haunt as the Motor City bad boy has ruled the charts for much of the past decade and remains a record selling phenomenon. In Royce Da 59’s case however, this marks the first time the highly vaunted MC has reached such lofty status. Clocking in at 166, 992 in sales, Hell: The Sequel shows just how powerful Eminem’s brand is as there has been little promotional push and no clear cut smash single to speak of.
Fans on Twitter showed their support of Slim Shady and Nickel Nine’s latest, with some expecting the release to sell as high as it did while others seeing this as a chance for Royce to get his due after so much early promise. Twitter fan @CraigSJenkins tweeted, “Any Eminem project is a lock for at least 6 figure 1st week sales. He is practically the biggest selling artist of our time.” User @ArmedPropaganda said of the EP’s sale, “It's proof that people still want quality music.”
The positive comments continued with, “Big shout out to Royce & Em (Bad Meets Evil) on having the number 1 album on Billboard, very well deserved. The album is crazy lyrical.” Fan @Darealrome humorously added, “Bad Meets Evil went #1, I've said it once and I'll say it again... Eminem is the Rap cheat code.” User @Atilla shouted out Royce Da 5’9 by tweeting, “Eminem & Royce da 5'9" (Bad Meets Evil) have the #1 album in the country. This is great news for Royce, who needed it.”
Hell: The Sequel marks the reunion of the Detroit rhyme slingers after a tiff between Royce and Eminem split the pair apart after a promising few tracks over a decade ago.
What do you think of Bad Meets Evil charting at #1 on the Billboard charts? Tweet to us at @MTVRapFix or leave us a comment below.
