 E = MC ² debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 463 @,@ 000 copies sold , making it the biggest opening week sales of Carey 's career , and also the biggest opening album in 2008 for a female artist , before matched by Taylor Swift 's Fearless in November . With six number one albums , Carey is now tied with Britney Spears and Janet Jackson and Beyoncé in the United States for the third most number one albums for a female artist , behind Madonna with eight and Barbra Streisand 's nine chart toppers . In its second week , the album remained at number one on the albums chart , with 182 @,@ 000 copies sold . E = MC ² became Carey 's first album to spend two straight weeks at number one since 1995 's Daydream , although The Emancipation of Mimi ( 2005 ) spent two non @-@ consecutive weeks at the top spot . On Billboard 's Top R & B / Hip @-@ Hop Albums chart , E = MC ² debuted at number one , and spent forty @-@ seven weeks fluctuating within the top 100 . The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) on July 8 , 2008 , denoting shipments of one million units . According to Nielsen SoundScan , stateside sales of the album stand at 1 @,@ 289 @,@ 000 copies as of April 2013 . In total , E = MC ² spent twenty @-@ seven weeks within the Billboard 200 , and finished at number twenty @-@ two on the Year @-@ End chart . On the same day the album was released , Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa proclaimed April 15 officially as " Mariah Carey day " in Los Angeles . It was in part of celebrating her eighteenth number one single , " Touch My Body " . Also , from April 25 through April 27 , 2008 , the Empire State Building was lit up in Carey 's motif colors — lavender , pink , and white — in celebration of her achievements in the world of music . On the Canadian Albums Chart , during the week dated May 3 , 2008 , E = MC ² debuted at number one , with first @-@ week sales of 19 @,@ 000 copies . It became her first number one album in Canada since before 1999 , as Rainbow and The Emancipation of Mimi both opened at number two . The album spent seven weeks within the album 's chart , and was eventually certified Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association ( CRIA ) , denoting shipments of 100 @,@ 000 units . 
