Nicki Minaj got her #1 spot with Pink Friday, three months belated. A week after her highly-watched SNL appearance, the Young Money heiress claimed the top of the charts, the same week her released crossed the million mark domestically.
Atlantic’s Bruno Mars climbed another spot to #4 with his Doo Wops & Hooligans. Additionally, Mars stepped away from possible jail-time after a cocaine possession arrest last year. Crossing the 600,000 mark, DW&H prompted two number one singles—“Grenade” and “Just the Way You Are.”
Speaking of Mars, he, along with B.o.B., Eminem and Cee Lo Green are included in this year’s Grammy Nominees release. The Recording Academy’s annual preview to the awards show fell 11 spots to #15.
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Up eight spots from last week, Rihanna’s Loudalbum continues to climb towards platinum, with features from Eminem, Drake and Nicki Minaj.
Eminem’s Recovery climbed six spots to #10. As one of the year’s best-selling albums, the Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records release reaches for 3.6 overall domestic units sold. The work features production from Alex da Kid, DJ Khalil, Just Blaze and Mobb Deep’s Havoc. On Sunday, Eminem appeared in his first two commercials, for Lipton and Chrysler respectively.
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* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandth.
Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 1 | Nicki Minaj | Pink Friday | 45,000 | 1,035,000 |
| 4 | Bruno Mars | Doo Wops & Hooligans | 32,000 | 627,000 |
| 5 | Rihanna | Loud | 29,000 | 895,000 |
| 10 | Eminem | Recovery | 25,000 | 3,535,000 |
| 15 | Various Artists | 2011 Grammy Nominees | 22,000 | 60,000 |
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Down two spots was Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The platinum album remains a constant Top 10 and Top 20 performer week-to-week. The album sits just over 1,000 units away from a cool million sold domestically.
Lil Wayne‘s digital-turned-physical 2010 release I Am Not A Human Being climbed eight spots to #25.
T.I.‘s No Mercy regained its five spots to the same #28 it had two weeks ago. The emcee and label owner’s latest album was released while he was incarcerated for probation violations earlier this year, involving drugs. The latest album from Tip features Kid Cudi, Scarface and Rocko, with production by DJ Toomp, Kanye West and Jake One.
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Talib Kweli‘s second completely self-released album, Gutter Rainbows, fell 73 spots in its second week. With CD and vinyl pressing coming in the next month, the Javotti Media digital release sold nearly 20,000 units in two weeks. Kweli’s first solo album in three-plus years, after last year’s Reflection Eternal reunion, features production from Ski Beatz, 88-Keys and Blaqtoven, with vocal contributions from Sean Price and Jean Grae.
Soulja Boy popped back on the charts after severala weeks away with his The DeAndre Way. The Interscope class of 2007 sensation’s third album features 50 Cent, Lil B and Trey Songz.
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| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total | |
| 22 | Kanye West | My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy | 18,000 | 999,000 | |
| 25 | Lil Wayne |
| 15,000 | 733,000 | |
| 28 | T.I. | No Mercy | 15,000 | 410,000 | |
| 102 | Talib Kweli | Gutter Rainbows | 5,000 | 19,000 | |
| 188 | Soulja Boy | The DeAndre Way | 2,600 | 56,000 |
Will Slaughterhouse take a Top 20 spot with their veteran-friendly EP? Stay tuned to HipHopDX to find out.
