With Nas " "Life Is Good" opening at number 1, it secured the vet his ninth topper on the tally. The set starts with a larger-than-expected 149,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and enters the Billboard 200 at No. 1. (Last week, industry sources had projected the set to start with around 125,000.)

Nas pulls into second place among rap acts with the most No. 1s in the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart "s archives. He had previously been tied with 2Pac and Lil Wayne with eight each. Among all rap artists, only Jay-Z has earned more leaders, with 12.

Nas earned his previous No. 1s on the list with "It Was Written" (1996), the collaboration set "The Firm" (1997; with Foxy Brown, AZ and Nature), "I Am" (1999), "Stillmatic" (2002), "God "s Son" (2003), "Hip Hop Is Dead" (2007), "Untitled" (2008) and his "Distant Relatives" collabo with Damian Marley (2010).

source: billboard.com