50

50 Cent has officially hit a career low.

The G-Unit General landed on The Billboard 200 this week at the no. 5 spot—his lowest debut since 2007’s Curtis came in at second place below Kanye West’s Graduation. As expected, the disc managed to sell 159,700 units, according to the Nielsen SoundScan, marking the first time that the rap superstar failed to go gold in his first week. This number includes two weeks of digital sales on iTunes.

As previously reported, when 50 first burst onto the scene with Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2002 he sold 872,000 units in his first week. In 2004, his sophomore album, The Massacre, rang up over 1.15 million discs and Curtis moved close to 695,000 units.

This go-round, his album leaked almost a month in advance, which undoubtedly affected his sales.

Meanwhile further down the charts at no. 25 is the Black Eyed Peas. The group’s latest disc, The E.N.D., pulled in 31,200 units in sales this week, bringing their 25 week total to 1,387,300.

Jay-Z landed five more spots down at no. 30. Fans rang up 29,100 units of The Blueprint 3 this week, making his 11 week tally stand at 1,300,300.

Rap legend Rakim failed to break into the top 40 this week with his comeback album The Seventh Seal. The independent offering, Ra’s fist disc in 10 years, sold 11,500 units in its debut week on the charts.

Next week look for Birdman to fly onto The Billboard 200. —XXL