This week featured several new Hip Hop releases debuting in Billboard’s Top 200 Albums charts. Big Sean had the highest debut of all Hip Hop artists with Hall of Fame, earning a spot at #3 overall with Juicy J’s Stay Trippy arriving right behind him at #4. Goodie Mob also premiered its latest album, Age Against the Machine, landing in the final slot of the Top 30.
Strange Music’s Krizz Kaliko also had a debut this week with Son of Sam, a project that hit at #57 with just under 8,000 units sold. “I always keep titles for songs and albums kind of in the chamber,” Kaliko said during a recent interview with HipHopDX. “And I always wanted to do an album called Son Of Sam because Son Of Sam is just me. That’s what it means. My family name is Sam Watson, so that’s my legal name, my government [name]. To me, it meant more of me.” Kaliko has also said that this album will allow him to shine as a solo artist in a different way than he has in the past. “A lot of people know me from Tech N9ne’s music from the last 13 years you know,” Kaliko said. “So I’ve always been kind of his co-writer, his sidekick, his hypeman…So I always wanted to do an album called Son Of Sam because it felt like to me a little bit of a liberation, not that I needed to be freed from that because that’s been a system that groomed me into being Krizz Kaliko. I’m giving you more of me and that’s pretty much where the title came from.”
Outside of new releases on the Billboard Top 200, there was also a significant jump from an artist who has been on the charts for months. Justin Timberlake made that leap with 20/20 Experience, an album that currently sits in the #6 spot. This was a meaningful move after being in the #22 spot just a week ago. For JT, the new position in the Top 6 comes after one of the most acclaimed performances at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, where he was the recipient of the Video Vanguard Award. Timberlake followed that show by appearing on several radio stations promoting his next album, The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2, scheduled for a September 30 release. The album is set to feature Jay Z and Drake.
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Big Sean Gets More Notoriety With Hall Of Fame
Big Sean’s new album, Hall of Fame, landed the rapper in the #3 spot in its first week out with approximately 72,000 units sold. This is a drop from the first week sales of his last effort, 2011’s Finally Famous, which sold 87,000 in its first week to land in the #3 slot as well. The Michigan rapper spoke about what Hall of Fame means to him during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX published August 29. “I really tried to step it up on this Hall Of Fame—from the “Beware” video, to “Fire” with Miley Cyrus and the album packaging,” Sean said. “We tried to do everything on a higher level and still be ourselves…still be cool. So I’m just excited about this project, and I feel like the next one’s gonna be even better. I’m 25-years-old, and I’m livin’.”
Juicy J Stays Strong With Stay Trippy
Juicy J’s Stay Trippy placed at #4 this week selling 64,000 units in its first week. Juicy J spoke about the album in May, saying that he had many songs to pick from before finalizing the effort. “It wasn’t like this person had to be on this one or that person had to be on that one,” Juicy said. “I was just doing songs. I would go in the studio and say, ‘Let’s do a song.’ Sometimes I release stuff on the Internet. Sometimes I may save it for an album. It was just done. [I’m at] 75 records right now.” Whatever strategy Juicy went with in the end seems to have worked for his fans, helping J land in the Top 5 for the week with this Kemosabe Records/Columbia release. Stay Trippy features guest spots from Pimp C, Trey Songz, Wale, Wiz Khalifa, Yelawolf and Justin Timberlake, to name a few.
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Goodie Mob Rages With Age Against The Machine
Goodie Mob’s Age Against the Machine positioned the group in the #30 spot with approximately 13,000 units sold. The group released this critically acclaimed album with the assistance of guest features from T.I. and Janelle Monae, but the focal point of the album remains the group’s chemistry after being separated for years. With Cee Lo, T-Mo, Khujo and Big Gipp, the album brings back some characteristics that are reminiscent of the group’s early days while also developing new sounds in the process. Cee Lo spoke about this in June 2012, when he confirmed that the quartet was working together again. “The Goodie Mob, we definitely are reunited,” Cee Lo said in an interview with MTV. “And we’ve been working on that album really vigorously and it’s coming out very well…I think people are going to be very pleased. You know our core audience and also this new audience that we are aspiring to acquire.”
Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/1/2013
#3. Big Sean – Hall of Fame – 72,000 (72,000)
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#4. Juicy J – Stay Trippy – 64,000 (64,000)
#5. Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines – 55,000 (392,000)
#13. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – The Heist – 25,000 (1,042,000)
#14. Jay Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail – 24,000 (937,000)
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#44. A$AP Ferg – Trap Lord – 9,000 (41,000)
#46. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city – 9,000 (1,020,000)
#49. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris – 8,000 (57,000)
#53. J. Cole – Born Sinner – 8,000 (587,000)
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#56. Krizz Kaliko – Son of Sam – 8,000 (8,000)
* data comes from Nielsen Soundscan, rounded to nearest thousandth for units above 10,000, nearest hundredth for units below 10,000. Each week, HipHopDX presents top albums in Hip Hop/related, and five notables.
Will EPMD’s Strictly Business reach a Top 10 placement with their 25th Anniversary release? Stay tuned to HipHopDX.
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