MTV’s Hope For Haiti Now release stayed strong in its second week of release. Now coming in #2 just behind Country/Pop act Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now, the compilation of songs specifically written for the tragedy includes work from already chartering acts such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Alicia, Keys and Mary J Blige. Wyclef Jean was also involved. Proceeds from the sale go to relief efforts in Haiti, which were independent of the over $57 million raised by phone, text and web support over the weekend.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It made a huge climb on the charts. The Epic Records soundtrack companion to the summer film surged 11 spots. Although the Grammy Awards aired Sunday, the tribute may have had a huge effect in the closing hours of the sales week, which runs Monday through Sunday.

The lone new Urban release was Corinne Bailey Rae’s The Sea. The EMI/Blue Note project was met with warm reviews, and debuted at #7. The Black Eyed Peas maintained a Top 10 appearance with The E.N.D. The Los Angeles-based quartet’s release crossed the 1.9 million mark, bringing them to the cusp of double platinum.

Alicia Keys‘ Element Of Freedom remained in the Top 10. The #7 J Records release appears to be two more weeks away from a platinum plaque, though Keys’ involvement with the aforementioned telethon and other media appearances could drive sales faster.

* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandeth.

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

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
2 Various Artists Hope For Haiti Now
 143,000 314,000
6 Michael Jackson’s This Is It
 55,000 1,404,000
7 Corinne Bailey Rae The Sea 53,000 53,000
10 Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D.
 40,000 1,929,000
11 Alicia Keys Element of Freedom
 37,000 965,000

Lil Wayne and teammates’ We Are Young Money approaches 300,000 just as Rebirth releases. Next week, Wayne will likely be the first rapper since T.I. to have two different albums on the Top 200. With Birdman, Jay Sean and the 350,000-plus-selling Drake already on the charts, Cash Money/Universal Records shows signs of early sales dominance in 2010, though Interscope continues to find a great magnitude of success in Black Eyed Peas, 50 Cent and Eminem.

Speaking of Eminem’s Relapse, that and Jay-Z‘s Blueprint 3 continue to sell very close week-to-week. The two efforts differred by less than 250 overall units sold. Both aim for multi-platinum status, with equal potential in the next quarter.


Kid Cudi is likely two weeks away from crossing the 300,000 mark. The Cleveland-born emcee/singer found a lot of success in his debut release Man On The Moon: The End Of Day. The G.O.O.D. Music rapper is said to be taking a new artistic direction with his 2010 sophomore effort, which will reportedly be a more positive, happier-sounding record. 50 Cent‘s Before I Self Destruct heads towards 400,000. The Interscope album may be Fif’s last with his second major label. 

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total
28 Young Money We Are Young Money
 19,000 270,000
40 Jay-Z Blueprint 3
 14,000 1,578,000
41 Eminem Relapse
 14,000 1,805,000
85 Kid Cudi Man On The Moon: The End Of Day
 6,600 289,000
86 50 Cent Before I Self Destruct
 6,600 379,000

With slower sales, can Styles P & Green Lantern, Statik Selektah  or Nneka crack the charts? Will Lil Wayne’s Rebirth assume the top spot?