Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/27/2009

Jay-Z [click to read] was forced to take a minor back-seat after two topping weeks on the charts. Pearl Jam‘s latest bumped Blueprint 3 [click to read] as it’s within 100,000 units of a platinum plaque, making it just the third Rap album to do so this year. Whitney Houston fell to #4, though I Look To You remained in the Top 5 for a third consecutive week.

The new stars of Universal Records, Kid Cudi [click to read] and Drake reversed positions after last week. Cudi‘s debut long-player Man On The Moon: The End of Day [click to read] sold 30% of its first week sales, as it heads towards 200,000. Cudi‘s ’08 classmate, Drake passed his peer last week with mixtape-turned-EP So Far Gone [click to listen]. Best Buy had the effort priced at $6.99, and included the Canadian star’s hits, “Successful” and “Best I Ever Had” as well as “Fear” [click to listen] which acknowledges one-time peers Little Brother and Slum Village. The EP crossed the 100,000 mark, a feat rarely seen in modern Hip Hop.

The Black Eyed Peas [click to read] bounced back in the Top 20. With continued radio success, the Hip-Pop veterans may use The E.N.D. [click to read] to become the beginning of a rumored re-negotiation period with longtime label A&M Records, part of the Interscope family.

* 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	Jay-Z	Blueprint 3	134,000	908,000
4	Whitney Houston	I Look To You	66,000	620,000
9	Drake	So Far Gone	36,000	110,000
16	Black Eyed Peas	The E.N.D.	29,000	1,140,000
17	Kid Cudi	Man On The Moon: End Of Day	28,000	133,00

Lil Boosie [click to read] fell 23 places. The Baton Rouge rapper released his latest, Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz [click to read] through Warner/Asylum/Trill, an album that stands a likely chance of six-figure sales. Boosie learned last week that it may be several years until he can enjoy said success, after drug and gun convictions.

Sean Kingston [click to read] was the one new Rap artist on the charts this week. Despite previous success, the Jamaican-born rap-singer’s Tomorrow debuted in the Top 40, but barely so. The release features Wyclef Jean as well as Rockers Good Charlotte.

Raekwon [click to read] crossed the 100,000 mark with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 [click to read]. Released through Chef‘s own Ice Water imprint, he was backed and distributed by the ’09-secret success story, EMI Records. The album is Rae‘s most elaborate to date, with Dr. Dre, RZA, Erick Sermon, Alchemist, J Dilla, Pete Rock and Marley Marl all contributing production.

Veteran outfits Trick Daddy [click to read] and a collaborative album from KRS-One & Buckshot [click to read] both made the Top 130 in sales. Finally Famous scanned just another 5,000 units, while the Duck Down Records release Survival Skills [click to read] trudges at just 12,000 overall sales. The effort serves as a Boot Camp Clik reunion with Mary J Blige.

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
30	Lil Boosie	Superbad: The Return Of Boosie Badazz	15,000	64,000
37	Sean Kingston	Tomorrow	13,000	13,000
40	Raekwon	Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2	12,000	101,000
101	Trick Daddy	Finally Famous: Born A Thug, Still A Thug	4,700	18,000
129	KRS-One & Buckshot	Survival Skills	3,600	12,000