What
do Jay-Z, Drake, The Black Eyed Peas, Ghostface Killah, and Kid Cudi have in
common? They are all in the top….fifty. Over the last couple of weeks there has been
a surge in the release of Hip Hop albums. We have had everything from Brother Ali to
Playaz Circle in “Dropping this Week”. A
few of them, like Kid Cudi and Drake have managed to make it into the top ten
but it looks as though now the only representative for Hip Hop in the upper digits
is Jay-Z…unless you want to count Mariah Carey.
The “Obsessed” singer enters the charts at number three with her latest album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. This is the R&B Diva’s 18th
album (if you include greatest hits and compilations) and features writing by
Tricky Stewart and The Dream. Although
Carey did work with producers Timberland and Jermaine Dupri during recording
those particular songs did not make the final tracklisting. Hey, at least she got Gucci Mane for the
remix. That’s a good thing…right? Although there is not a lot of Hip Hop
represented on the original album expect some of her more popular songs to be
remixed and feature the latest flavor of the month from the rap world.
Meanwhile,
the owner of Roc Nation (and occasional Mariah collaborator) Jay-Z, drops from
two to six with his latest album The
Blueprint 3
. The album sells asteady 86,000 copies after entering the charts a few weeks ago.
That takes care of Hip Hop in the top 10.
Drake grabs the number 18 spot with his mixtape-released-as-an-album So Far Gone. The Cash Money/Young Money artist moves
32,000 more copies this week and continues to build up anticipation for his
debut album, Thank Me Later.
At
the twenty third spot are The Black Eyed Peas who continue to sell more of
their monster album The E.N.D. This week the group moves another 29,000
copies.Cudi’s, Man on
the Moon: The End of Day sells another 17,000 copies and lands the number
32 spot.
I don’t usually endorse
an album but if you haven’t picked up Ghostface Killah’s Ghostdini The Wizard Of Poetry then I just don’t know what you’re doing with your
life. This week he picks up the number 30 spot. The album
features duets with R&B artists including Shareefa, Raheem DeVaughn, Jack
Night, Estelle, John Legend, Lloyd, Ron Brownz, and Ne-Yo. It’s Ghostface! When was the last time you heard a Ghostface
album and went “Uhhhh……it was ok” (I’m not counting that 718 compilation
album). Go to a store people. Get an album or something.
Dropping
This Week
Depressing
album sales aside, there have been some solid albums coming out in this section
for the last few weeks.
I’m
going to be biased and start off with Joe Budden. One fourth of Slaughter House releases his
sixth official studio album, Escape Route. You may love him or hate him but can you
really say dude can’t rap? As a matter
of fact, I have rarely heard anyone that has listened to the Mood Musik series
say he can’t rap. His latest album has
Slaughterhouse, Young Chris, and Wale on it so it should be an interesting
listen.
Don’t
tell him autotune is dead. Harlem’s own
DJ Webstar releases his latest album, The
Rooftop. The album is actually a collaboration
between Webstar and Jim Jones and features Juelz Santana, Brucie B, and Styles
P to name a few.
I’m
going to finish of the week with BK representative Fat Joe. He releases his ninth studio album Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 (J.O.S.E 2)
with guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Ron Browz, Akon, Pleasure P, T-Pain, Lil
Kim, Raekwon, and Swiz Beatz.
Told
you guys it would be a short week. We’ll
see if the numbers get better for next week’s ChartWatch.