Rap veteran T.I. [ tickets ] scored the biggest single-week sales of his career, moving 568,000 copies of his new set, "Paper Trail," during its first week in stores.

That was plenty to earn him his third consecutive No. 1 album on the US album chart, according to Billboard. His closest challenger was Jennifer Hudson's self-titled debut, which sold 217,000 copies and enters The Billboard 200 at No. 2. Billboard bases its flagship album chart on Nielsen SoundScan retail reports.

Robin Thicke's "Something Else" enters the chart at No. 3 with 137,000 copies sold, while James Taylor's "Covers," which was sold through Starbucks and the home-shopping network QVC, moved 95,000 copies and debuts at No. 4.

Dropping to No. 5 is Metallica's "Death Magnetic," which sold 86,000 more copies. The album had spent its first three weeks at No. 1.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman" at No. 6, Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" at No. 7, Jack's Mannequin's "The Glass Passenger" at No. 8, Kelly Pickler's self-titled sophomore album at No. 9 and Jazmine Sullivan's "Fearless" at No. 10.