AllHipHop ChartWatch: Depressing Sales, Some Hang On!

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 a steady 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.