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Lecrae Makes Gospel Hip Hop History

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Rapper Lecrae collects his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as his new Anomaly opens atop the list. It sold 88,000 copies in the week ending Sept. 14, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s also the first chart-topper for Lecrae’s label, Reach Records.

Anomaly‘s launch is Lecrae’s best sales week, trumping the 72,000-unit start of 2012’s Gravity, which debuted and peaked at No. 3. (Gravity was also Lecrae’s highest-charting album — and only top 10 — until Anomaly‘s arrival.)

Anomaly is the Grammy winner’s sixth No. 1 on the Gospel Albums chart and his fifth leader on Christian Albums. (Most Christian hip-hop releases are eligible to appear on both sales charts.)