REUTERS

RAPPER Nicki Minaj shot straight to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart recently with her sophomore album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, usurping the crown from Madonna, who suffered the biggest second week sales drop in chart history.

Sales for Madonna’s 12th studio album MDNA fell a staggering 86.7 percent to just 48,000 copies sold this week, dropping from number one to number eight on the chart.

The percentage drop in MDNA sales trumps Lady Gaga’s 2011 album Born This Way, which fell from 1.1 million copies in its opening week to 174,000 in week two, an 84 percent decline.

Roman Reloaded is Minaj’s second album to top the chart, selling 253,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, despite receiving poor reviews from critics.

Madonna recently teamed up with Minaj on her Superbowl song Give Me All Your Luvin and another track on the MDNA album, and Minaj has openly revealed her admiration for the Queen of Pop, calling Madonna one of her inspirations.

Pop darling Adele’s Grammy-sweeping album 21 returns to the number two spot on the chart, selling 153,000 copies in its 59th week. Total US sales of the album have surpassed eight million copies so far.

Country music band Rascal Flatts saw their 9th studio album, Changed, enter at number three with 130,000 copies, while newcomers Of Monsters and Men, a British folk-rock band, saw their debut album My Head is an Animal come in at number six with 55,000 copies.

Gospel singer Marvin Sapp was the fourth new entry in the top ten as I Win took the number nine position with 37,000 copies sold in its opening week.

Indie trio fun climbed back to the top of the Digital Songs chart this week with their youth anthem We Are Young, ousting last week’s chart-topper, Boyfriend by Justin Bieber, which fell to number three, below Gotye’s break-up melody Somebody That I Used To Know, featuring Kimbra, which clocked in at number two.