Michael Jackson looks platinum-plausible after three weeks of the This Is It soundtrack, 

especially with Black Friday approaching. The collection includes Jackson hits like the 
Hip Hop favorite “Human Nature” various demo and single versions of other hits 
throughout the last three decades. The work fell two places to #4 from last week.

Jay-Z slid one place with Blueprint 3 in a week that saw seven charting debuts before him. With 
a new video to “Empire State Of Mind,” the Atlantic Records-distributed effort could beat out 
Black Eyed Peas and Eminem as 2009’s top-selling Rap album, although 50 Cent and 
Lil Wayne loom on the horizon, with releases. Jay’s wife, Beyonce, had a massive 50-plus 
place increase of I Am…Sasha Fierce. The album slipped back into the Top 40, due to touring 
and appearances, as well as her new Lady Gaga-assisted “Video Phone” video.

Speaking of, The Black Eyed Peas stayed around their usual #20 spot for The E.N.D. The 

Electro-Pop work may be a departure from even the group’s more recent two albums, but the 
Good Life-birthed outfit remains an underground Hip Hop success story.
Another Interscope artist, DMV emcee and DXnext alum, Wale debuted just units behind, with 
his Attention : Deficit. Signed to Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation management firm, and backed by Grammy, 
gold-selling producer Mark Ronson, Wale‘s debut boasts appearances from Bun B, The 
Neptunes, Gucci Mane and Roc Nation tourmate J. Cole.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
4 Michael Jackson Michael Jackson’s This Is It
 116,000 687,000
16 Jay-Z Blueprint 3
 33,000 1,271,000
20 Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D.
 28,000 1,356,000
21 Wale Attention : Deficit
 28,000 28,000
37 Beyonce I Am…Sascha Fierce 16,000 2,492,000

* Please note: figures above approximated to nearest thousandeth.

The biggest surprise on the charts last week Tech N9ne‘s K.O.D. sold another 6,000 units, 
slipping just outside the Top 100. The Kansas City rapper, who has sold over one million 
records independently in the course of his career, has developed his Strange label 
extensively this year, signing Brotha Lynch Hung, and developing local talent, Krizz 
Kaliko and Big Scoob. 

Rick Ross‘ first act on Maybach Music, Triple C‘s scanned another 3,000 of their Custom 
Cars & Cycles. The Def Jam release featured a number of videos made in promotion of the 
project, and boasted guest appearances from both Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane. Kid Cudi 
also crossed the 200,000 mark of his debut, Man On The Moon: End Of Day, executive 
produced by Kanye West. 

Just days before doubling his prison sentence over parole violation, Baton Rouge’s 
Lil Boosie continues to climb past the 100,000 mark with Superbad: The Return Of Boosie 
Badazz, just as he’s done with his previous Trill Entertainment releases. 
Besides Wale, the only other Rap debut was Wyclef Jean‘s retail mixtape with DJ Drama, 
the incubator to Jean‘s longtime Columbia contract, this work features Eve, Lil Kim and 
Timbaland. The retail release cleared just over 3,000 units, falling in at #171.


Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
104 Tech N9ne K.O.D.
 6,200 47,000
105 Kid Cudi Man On The Moon: The End Of Day
 6,100 203,000
165 Triple C’s Custom Cars & Cycles
 3,400 21,000
166 Lil Boosie Superbad: The Return Of Boosie Badazz 3,400 107,000
171 Wyclef Jean Toussaint St. Jean: From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion
 3,300 3,300

Is 50 Cent looking at platinum this time? Can Rakim‘s divine intervention bring about a 
Top 20 debut? Stay tuned to HipHopDX to find out.