He might not be the greatest rapper of all-time, but he’s the greatest right now. Hip Hop star Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter III’ has sold over 1 million units in it’s first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, making him the first artist since 50 Cent’s ‘The Massacre’ in 2005 to reach that milestone.

No album in 2006 sold as many as 800,000 copies in a single frame, and the largest sales week since "The Massacre" belonged to Kanye West's "Graduation," which netted an opener of 957,000 copies last year when it hit stores on Sept. 11.

A prolific rapper who's been ubiquitous on the mixtape scene and on other acts' records, Lil Wayne is generally regarded as one of rap's most gifted performers — but he's never had a multiplatinum album. His last two albums, "Tha Carter" and "Tha Carter II," sold 1.1 million and 1.4 million copies, respectively. "Tha Carter III" was anticipated as the CD that would send the New Orleans rapper into superstardom.

Expectations for "Tha Carter III" were high, and it delivered — selling 423,000 copies in its first day of release, as reported on Singersroom. It achieved blockbuster numbers despite being heavily bootlegged and leaked on the Internet; past leaks of material for the CD caused parent label Universal Motown to delay its release several times.

Final chart data is expected later today.