Rap is taking the charts by storm this summer.

Despite the controversy surrounding the now infamous Samsung deal that forced the RIAA to certify Jay-Z‘s 12th solo album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, platinum before its official in-store release date even arrived, there’s no debating what just happened over the past seven days. In lieu of a string of press runs (Hot 97, Power 105.1, BBC Radio, the 6-hour “Picasso Baby” performance), once again, Hov prevails as an artist, as MCHG debuts at #1 on Billboard. With the official number being reported as 528,208 copies, Carter, sans the Samsung tally, now has a gold certification to add to MCHG’s early list of achievements. Remarkable, considering the album was available to anyone with a working computer since Independence Day.

In other news, J. Cole has outsold Kanye West for the second consecutive week, as Born Sinner moved just under 40,000 copies over the past seven days to land at #3, in contrast to Yeezus‘ 28,000.

-Khari Nixon (@KingVanGogh)