If it weren’t for Country star Kenny Chesney, T.I. [click to read] would have topped the charts for three straight weeks. Paper Trail [click to read] fell over 40,000 units short of the debuting star though, as T.I. may find himself past the million mark next week with one more strong week. Time will tell how T.I. stands when Kanye West and 50 Cent enter the charts before year’s end.
The rest of the upper charts saw no changes from last week. As Ne-Yo‘s Year of the Gentleman [click to read] stayed at #8, Robin Thicke [click to read] and Jennifer Hudson gained and lost a spot respectively. Lil Wayne [click to read] practically copied his work from last week with Tha Carter III [click to read]. Young Jeezy [click to read] gained a spot with another strong performance of Recession [click to read]. The Game [click to read] finally brought LAX [click to read] over the 500,000 mark. That makes the Compton superstar three-for-three in getting plaques to his official albums.
Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total | |
| 2 | T.I. | Paper Trail | 131,565 | 877,640 | |
| 8 | Ne-Yo | Year of the Gentleman | 46,386 | 490,742 | |
| 12 | Lil Wayne | Tha Carter III | 25,794 | 2,576,301 | |
| 14 | Young Jeezy | Recession |
|
540,599 | |
| 21 | The Game | LAX | 18,573 | 515,402 |
Devin The Dude [click to view] may have fallen on the charts, but after DJ Khaled and Nelly, the Florida-born, Texas repping rapper’s Landing Gear [click to read] still continues to impress, falling just short of the Top 100. Murs and Z-Ro fell from the Top 200 last week, but don’t count the former out, as he may return. Ice Cube [click to read] continues to perform steadily, still falling behind schedule of the gold plaque he reached two years ago.
Nas’ Untitled [click to read] trucks on, with potential traction if Def Jam dares to work another single from the acclaimed summer album. Plies [click to read] continues to prove he’s the Scotty Pippen to T.I.‘s Jordan at Atlantic Records, still scanning his sophomore effort, Definition of Real [click to read]. Presently on tour with Talib Kweli and B.o.B., David Banner [click to read] also proves that he’s still a major draw, as Greatest Story Ever Told [click to read] trudges towards 200,000 units.
Other Notables
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 112 | Devin The Dude | Landing Gear | 5,059 | 15,915 |
| 163 | Ice Cube | Raw Footage | 3,544 | 158,040 |
| 173 | Nas | Untitled | 3,309 | 404,281 |
| 183 | Plies | Definition of Real | 3,217 | 523,649 |
| 194 | David Banner | Greatest Story Ever Told | 3,024 | 169,157 |
Is T.I. going platinum in one month? Will Murs sneak back up on the charts? The calm before November’s storm, next week on HipHopDX.
