Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 12/2/2012

    In addition to a new #1 on the R&B/Pop side of things, two veteran releases hit the Top 200, as well as another re-packaging of an earlier 2012 album, for the second straight week.

    Alicia Keys’ fifth album, Girl On Fire, sold over 150,000 units in its first week. This is Keys’ first release since J Records, where she was the flagship artist, merged into RCA. In addition to a Nicki Minaj featured appearance, Keys collaborated with husband Swizz Beatz and Dr. Dre on this effort.

    The long-discussed Wu-Tang Clan & D-Block collaboration, by way of Ghostface Killah and Sheek Louch sold nearly 9,000 first-week copies. The eOne release featured the three active members of D-Block/The LOX, as well as seven original Wu members. Krizz Kaliko’s second release of 2012 and first EP slipped into the Top 200. Neh’Mind is the latest in a series of digital EPs from Strange Music’s roster.

    Finally, following Nicki Minaj’s recent re-packaging of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (as The Re-Up), Epic Records’ Future re-released Pluto (as Pluto 3D). This pulled the album containing “Same Damn Time” from the bottom of the charts last week at #191 to #63, and increasing weekly sales by over 6,000 units.

    Alicia Keys Still Is A Girl Who Can Set The Charts On Fire

    Alicia Keys’ Girl On Fire took the #1 amidst a crowd of musical ladies including Taylor Swift, Rihanna and P!nk. The New Yorker’s latest album features the self-titled hit single as well as the recently-released “Brand New Me.” Now with RCA Records, this is Alicia’s lowest-selling first week of her career. 2009’s The Element Of Freedom sold over 275,000 more copies in its first days at retail. A platinum mainstay, the new label regime behind the the talented vocalist/piano player will be challenged to follow suit in the coming months. 

    Wu-Block Comes Out

    The long-discussed merging behind two New York high-profile Hip Hop groups came to fruition this fall. The Wu-Block project was took official shape when led by Ghostface Killah and Sheek Louch, who have toured together multiple times. The Staten Island and Yonkers delegates brought in members of their crews on various songs from the project. Notably absent from the Wu was RZA, both as a vocalist and producer, as well as U-God, while Erykah Badu appeared on the Termanology-produced “Drivin’ Around.” Other producers of note included Erick Sermon and Red Spyda

    Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 12/2/2012

    #1. Alicia Keys – Girl On Fire – 159,000 (160,000)

    #6. Rihanna – Unapologetic – 72,000 (310,000)

    #17. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city – 29,000 (457,000)

    #30. Cee Lo Green – Cee Lo’s Magic Moment – 21,000 (47,000)

    #53. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded The Re-Up – 12,000 (739,000)

    #54. 2 Chainz – Based On A T.R.U. Story – 12,000 (417,000)

    #59. Meek Mill – Dreams & Nightmares – 12,000 (256,000)

    #63. Future – Pluto – 11,000 (217,000)

    #73. Wu-Block – Wu-Block – 8,600 (8,800)

    #161. Krizz Kaliko – Neh’Mind – 3,800 (3,800)

    * 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 Wiz Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C. take the #1? Check back next week on HipHopDX.

    Last week’s album sales.

    RELATED: Alicia Keys: She’s Smokin’! [2007 INTERVIEW]

    201 thoughts on “Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 12/2/2012

    1. meek should have went to roc nation ross is killing his career he used him up on his features now people are tired of him already and his album was trash

      1. i feel you, that MMG brand is killing him, but i dunno about roc nation, they haven’t really sold any records either.

    2. Dear HHDX:

      R&B Album Sales:
      1. Alicia Keys
      2. Rhinoceros
      3. Cee Lo Green

      Hip Hop Album Sales:
      1. Kendrick Lamar
      2. 2 Chainz
      3. Meek Mill

      Comedy Pop:
      1. Nicki Minaj

      …so when can we see the corrections?

    3. Meek Millz flopped
      sorry, he really did.
      All that buzz, he was suppose to outsell Kendrick easily.
      he was all over the radio, put out a mix tape this summer n shit.
      He fucked up by releasing that song wit kirko bangs, and even more by releasing Dreamchasers 2 with cuts that woulda made the album.
      He fucked up like ross fucked up by releasing rich forever before GFID.
      Niggas putting all they good shit on the mixtapes n can’t come correct with an album.
      R.I.P. MMG
      They aint jeezy!
      IT’S THE WORLD!

    4. everybody is talking doen on meek mills sales i dont really see why his album is on pace to out sale nas album and his album sales were affected by the storm that hit ny so to me the album sales are pretty good he will hit around 350k before said and done and if he puts out a hit single he may hit gold if you are gonna point out a flop look at futures sales with all his hype and radio play and a re relase if his album that is a major flop the only rappers moving any units is rick ross who just passed 500k with only one single and kendrick lamar who is well on his way to gold

      1. I think Meek dropped his album a little late. He had some amazing songs earlier in the year. Also, I don’t think he can do anything to increase sales now and it will be very hard for him to get to Gold status

      2. sorry but where did u read rick ross passed 500k? i know it shipped gold buy last i saw it was at like 438k sold??

        meek came out 1 week after kendrick and kendrick is ahead by 200k! and meek mill had the bigger buzz, thats not a good look, you cant blame it on sandy

    5. damn, if Alicia Keys sells this much records that means that people dont know who the real and fake artists are

      1. So true! Who’s gonna push some real numbers out of the MMG camp now?….Stalley??? Omarion???…I was rooting for Meek and I thought the album was good but # don’t lie.

        They spent hella dough on ad campaigns but flopped! They need to go on Rapper walfare to get some of that back!

        SMH

      2. its funny u say that. numbers dont lie. soo was nas album garbage????? or not good?? because he didnt sell as much??? what are we going by here how much you sold or quality music im confused

    6. if game can diss G-unit after selling over 500k the first week, i think Meek can look at this and say i can’t rock with y’all……game survived, meek might too.

    7. is it me or is there a typo on niki’s album sales because last i heard she sold only 34K on first week & this is her 2nd or 3rd week theres no way she got 700K

    8. Well at least Meek is doing better numbers than Slaughterhouse. Really YMCMB is the only collective selling more units than MMG since both Ross and Wale went gold…….

    9. Let’s face it people…
      GKMC —> Album of the Year (brought back Hip Hop)
      Meek —> Good artist, some good singles, poor management.
      2 Chainz…the only good about him is when he says…Twooooo Chaaainnnz

      1. and oh yeah about Nicki Minaj…parents need to stop giving kids allowances so they can waste their money on clown musik. Teach yo kidz how to invest properly!!!

      2. You need hard evidence to support your claim that Kendrick’s album brought hip hop back. So far shit hasn’t changed at all since his album came out. FOH!

      3. GKMC is a smart album with many concepts. Not just rhymes made up out of the blue just to make a song which is what most of rappers these days do!

        After years of listening to hip hop and the same bull shit you get tired! Now it’s just flip flop muzik.

        Get ur ears checked!

      4. GKMC is a smart album with many concepts. Not just rhymes made up out of the blue just to make a song which is what most of rappers these days do! After years of listening to hip hop and the same bull shit you get tired! Now it’s just flip flop muzik. Get ur ears checked!

      5. GKMC is a smart album with many concepts. Not just rhymes made up out of the blue just to make a song which is what most of rappers these days do.
        After years of listening to hip hop and the same bull shit you get tired. Now it’s just flip flop muzik. Get ur ears checked!

      6. nas n ross had the best albums of the year. kendricks was ok. what the fuck was his album about??? swimming pools drinking cali life?? we dont live that shit out here in the east coast. nas n ross album was about something and the titles the song structures meant something.

      7. ross hold me back was about something. in life period. his tracks are even numbered a certain way on the album. production beats flow better than kendricks album. anyyy real hiphop head will tell u that. but most likely ur young prob listen to cheif keef and 50 cent non lyrical garbage rappers lol

      8. You’re not being serious. Yes, the production on Ross’ album was better than Kendrick, but overall, the album was trash. Kendrick’s album is 100x better than Ross’. That’s what REAL hip hop heads will say. Also,

        but most likely ur young prob listen to cheif keef and 50 cent non lyrical garbage rappers lol

        1. You don’t know me, nigga. I listen to everything from the old school legends like Rakim, Pac, Big L, etc. to today’s elite rappers like Jay, Kanye, and Eminem to even the youngins like Kendrick, Cole, KRIT, etc. so your point is useless.

        2. I don’t listen to Chief Keef and 50 Cent, and Rick Ross is also a non lyrical garbage rapper.

        You’re obviously a troll, so you can go fuck yourself.

      9. considering that you think kendricks album is better than ross lets me know that your either 16 or just dont know hip hop at all. could you please tell me what was kendrick lamars album about??? swimming pools? bitch your killing my vibe??? lol are u kidding me?? only teenagers could listen to his album and apply that in life

      10. It’s obvious; you’re a troll. I bet you listen to Soulja Boy, Gucci Mane and other wack niggas because you think Ross’ shitty album is better than Kendrick’s. I’m also willing to bet you ain’t got a job and live on food stamps. If you’re gonna troll, be original, cause your shit ain’t working.

        P.S.: if you don’t know what the album talks about, then listen to it. It’s about a kid growing up in the hood, something every hood nigga relates to.

      11. This dude said the production on Ross’ wack ass shit album is better than Kendrick’s album. You are one stupid fuck.

      1. @Str8H8
        Yep. Still better than the rest of the crap on the list.
        If that was the funniest comment you read in a while, then you need to get out more.

      1. yes hes certified gold

        just like how rick ross album is gold but hes hasnt even sold as many copies as kendrick

      2. Ross got his plaque in SEPTEMBER. Kendrick got his 3 DAYS AGO. Start looking for Hip Hop news BESIDES AT HHDX ASSHOLE.

      3. WRONG, WRONG AND WRONG. ROSS AND KENDRICK DID NOT GO GOLD, DUMBASS. THEY HAVEN’T SOLD 500K YET. GOLD, PLATINUM, DIAMOND, ETC. CERTIFICATIONS ARE NOT DETERMINED BY SHIPPED. IT’S DETERMINE BY SOLD. THAT’S RETARDED.

      4. It is determined by shipped. When products are shipped products are sold. That’s why Target didn’t have Nikki Minaj albums shipped because they didnt want to buy albums that they didnt know would sell

      5. “When products are shipped products are sold.”

        How? Products shipped does not mean they’re sold. So if 500k albums are shipped, but only 350k people buy it, that means its gold? You need to stay in school, kid.

      6. im not saying its right but thats how it works, dude wants to call everyone dumb and wrong but he doesnt knows what hes talking about

    10. Those are aweful numbers for Alicia Keys, she’s supposed to be selling 500,000-800,000 first week…But im not surprised. Her last 3 albums werent that good… Maybe the drop in sales will wake her up and stop her from making half ass pop records.

      1. It’s not a flop these days. Every new Wu release sells about that much. There are still about 10,000 loyal fans who cop every new Wu album, and I’m one of them.

      2. Exactly….9,000 copies is actually pretty good for an underground album. I’m surprised it did that much! Happy to see real shit on the charts.

    11. “its a re release, not a new album! bullshit move by young money to try and make her reach platinum”

      How is that a bullshit move? It’s sold an extra 12,000 copies. That’s more money in their pocket.

    12. “They’re combining the sales of the re-release with the original album to make it look like it sold more”

      Your buddy 50 did the same thing with The Massacre. Just saying…

      1. difference is the massacre sold 1.14 million copies first week

        its not like they were trying to bump his numbers so he could go platinum

      2. Quote-Man is a 50 hater. He forgot to include that not only was 50 platinum already before the re-release, but “The Massacre” re-release re-entered the charts at #2. Moved over 5m domestic units and over 7m worldwide. “Outta Control Remix” and “Window Shopper” re-ignited the album.

        This isn’t happening with Nicki. The original version was never strong enough to be a seller and the re-release isn’t resonating with her fans. Using 50 as an example was a terrible move.

    13. Alicia is yet to release a wack record, and Girl on Fire lives up to the high standards set by its predecessors. Sales are not an indication of quality, and she’s still one of the world’s most successful musicians. Her 2013 tour has already sold and that’s where you earn dough in the music business now-a-days. Can’t wait to see her again next year, and can’t stop bumping this superb LP.

    14. HOld up! It says there is a “Termanology-produced track” on the Wu-Block album?? When the FUCK did Termanology start producing??? That shit must be horrible!

      1. Hey, nigga. Isn’t it time for you to go to school? Get your faggot ass back to class before you catch an ass whupping.

      2. Hey, youngsta. I’m horny. Can I stick my dick inside you again? I got the KY Jelly and we can listen to Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up, Take Care, and Believe while we’re fucking.

      1. I spent it all buying every last Twinkie, Ding-Dong, and other Hostess’ treat left on earth. You’ll get your check around your second album. UGGGH!!

        #MMG

      2. Nice try tho but all these fake imposters originate from one person (you)using multiple accounts. Be ashamed of yourself and get a life. smh

    15. ONE DIRECION..(a boy band)

      RIRI….#THE PRINCESS OF POP/”rock”

      now..AKEYZ….#A POP/SOUL DIVA

      GOOD NEWS FOR GKMC

      and MEEK MILL D&N….WHO WILL CLOSE OUT 2012 @ #1

      GAME

      TIP

      BISHOP FIDDY

      and THE COMEBACK KING..”he infamous”…KDUB(KANYE WEST)..#2013

    16. dissapointed in wu-block figures but spose no commercials is usually low sales least theyl tour. i couldnt give much of a fuck about record sales anymore just coz 2chainz sold more than nas dusnt mean id listen to him more at all. im not dumb enough to enjoy that whack shit blaaah

    17. can u posti pitbull’s sales please??
      Pitbull is a rapper, why u ignore him???

      he has many fans, report his sales please.

      1. Those sales are pathetic for a guy who’s everywhere. Yelawolf also sold 200k, and mainstream america never heard his name.

    18. “its not like they were trying to bump his numbers so he could go platinum”

      Point is they were trying to milk it just like NM’s label is now. It’s not a bad move.

    19. “This isn’t happening with Nicki. The original version was never strong enough to be a seller and the re-release isn’t resonating with her fans”

      Pink Friday is ranked #7 in sales on Amazon, The Re Up album #8. The Massacre Deluxe is somewhere in the 60,000’s lol They can’t give that shit away. So alas 50 lover, NM is selling. Maybe not eye popping numbers, but one can only guess how many people downloaded both those albums which naturally effected her sales.

      1. Nicki, is that you? You don’t need to be butt hurt when people say your shit sucks. Just keep it going and suck a dick.

      2. Quote-Man’s retort example is even worse, using an album that was released almost ten years ago and it’s numbers today against an album released this year and it’s current position with a re-release. Did you notice her current standing is still below “The Massacre” and it’s re-release charting then?

        To add insult to injury, “The Massacre” was originally released EARLY to prevent illegal downloading and it STILL went platinum. Allow me to give you a spin and say Nicki’s nearly million unit drop-off is due to illegal downloading. You’re desperate to be right.

    20. “12,000 only covers her stupid ass clown make-up”

      Sounds like you spend alot of time staring at her make-up. WTF is that about fuck boy?

      1. Look at this no-life cocksucker defending that wack piece of shit. You need a life. I think you’re jealous of 50.

      2. This is for dat ho out of Team Nicki…my comment was in reference to her make up, clothes, music, gimmick, and personality. She was a reject from ‘Cirque du Soleil’. It takes an idiot to not notice that…u ho!

    21. “THEY HAVEN’T SOLD 500K YET. GOLD, PLATINUM, DIAMOND, ETC. CERTIFICATIONS ARE NOT DETERMINED BY SHIPPED. IT’S DETERMINE BY SOLD. THAT’S RETARDED”

      I agree, but that’s how it works, and at the end of the day when an album is close enough it’s not a conspiracy to call it gold or platinum.

      1. Coca-Cola counts the orders made to the distributor as sales, even though stores scan them as individual units. A palette or boxes of CD’s being shipped to Amazon or Best Buy count as sales, even though the stores have to fill pre-orders and store traffic. Not rocket science, you people may not have a real grasp as to how the distribution business works.

      2. That’s retarded. So if they shipped 1 million albums and it only 450k people bought it, then that means its platinum? That’s stupid. That’s a lot of money being thrown away. You’re the one that don’t know anything.

      3. Shipments is how they judge it dumb asses, not actual sales. Doesn’t matter if it’s right or wrong, that’s how it is.

      4. Why would a company who’s crunching numbers over ship? This happened before in the industry, they don’t do that anymore. They learned their lesson “shipping platinum” and THEN………………..having to deal with BUYBACKS……..

        It would really be cool if people ASKED….we would get a lot of great input then because people enjoy teaching those WANT TO LEARN, instead of dealing with those who act like they know it all.

    22. Wu Block album is raw, it’s not catered for Billboard or Soundscan just for those that know the deal and you can tell they had fun recording it, they’re at the “nothing to prove” stage of their careers.

      1. Raw meaning unpolished, non catchy, non commercial and non refundable if the package is opened when you try and return it.

    23. Well, to be honest Wu Block wasnt really promoted that well.. It kinda just came outta know where after the years of hype

    24. That would be fantastic if my nizzle Kendrick went gold!!! Shit, who am I kidding this nigga almost there !!

      WESTSIDE!!!!!!!

    25. 159,000 is terrible for Alicia Keys. Her last 3 albums before her recent one sold over 400k the first week easy. Now it seems she wil be lucky to go even gold. I shouldn’t be too shocked because the album was kinda bland. Swizz beatz ruined this broads career. From the whole making her a homewrecker(which turned off alot of her core audience)to being very involved in her last two projects(Element of Freedom wasn’t even nominated for a single grammy at the last grammy awards ceremony). Now this… Sales are fucked up as it is, as we all can see with these current sales. But Adele just went diamond a few weeks ago so… What does this tell us?

      1. Mentioning the word Alicia Keys on a supposedly “RAP” site should be an automatic lifetime ban. And elves sent to your house to slash your Mom’s ride you pawn off as yours.

    26. Lets be honest here, nobody is looking for wu-block. Im suprised it sold 8k i thought it was gonna sell 50-100. Lmao this album is like on roach status and thats as small as it can get!

      1. Kill yourself, and that’s not a reason, don’t proclaim reason if you’re suggesting a prediction and nothing thereafter. That’s not reason, yeah that’s your reason and a bunch of other dumbasses reason, so that’s reason? Huh? That’s reason, so long as it’s not a threat to my superficial identity as a violent stan. Fuck you and your life, go kill yourself you clown.

    27. you broke ass downloaders should be thrown under a f’n bus. these sales are pathetic. ballers my ass. buncha broke ass mf’s is what you are.

      1. I’ll buy an album that is worth my money you dumbass. None are these days. So STFU. Many here will agree with me.

      2. I actually agree with snIPez the quality of albums being put out nowdays is atrocious. Stop blaming bad sales on downloads, the last cd I bought was bound to do little or no sales with little or no promotion.

      3. Damn right. We’re in a recession and I’m broke as f@#k! I downloaded that Wu Block and I’m bumpin’ it all day! When Ghost and Sheek came through my city last year I bought tickets. They get more off of that than the album anyway. I don’t even like 2Chains but I downloaded his album just to steal his isn. Throw me under the bus Baller man!

      4. if you dont like 2chainz then why would you download the album…that would be as dumb as me downloading a kreayshawn album just to steal it cuz then i have that garbage in my itunes…

    28. Wow, 8,000 for Wu Block, but you guys will eat that Future and Two Chainze shit up. Fuck that real shit, fuck it.

      1. future and 2chainz are playing in almost every region now…sheek louch and ghostface barely get played in their hometown…

      1. gonna sell 500k before the hottest rapper in the game rick ross

        even though that nigga is promoting his shit as “THE GOLD SELLING GOD FORGIVES I DONT”

      2. ^^ LOL cosign no wonder why people always getting the fuck out of Interscope they try to make it look like they a good label because Eminem still there but he knows he’s getting buttfucked as well

      3. realshit, eminems net worth is ONLY 100mill, nd i say only cuz if sumbody sold 80 mill records they shuld have waaaay more bread then that homie…..

      4. yall are idiots…there is not one rapper out on a major label that makes more than 75 cents to a dollar per album sold…and the boss is gunna make more than the worker everytime…

        rappers dont make shit off album sales…nowadays its show money and sponsorships

    29. its actually funny pluto been out longer and sold almost the same amount as dreams and nightmarez and future didnt even have a cosign and is straight total garbage. that not wanting battling cassidy backlash is really fucking up his career. i dont see dreams and night marez going gold anytime soon

      1. you do know that’s a hit for a single don’t you? you ever heard of top 40? go kill yourself you know nothing about the industry

      1. Wrong…they sold 8,600 copies. But one idiot below bought a copy so that’s 8,600 + 1 = 8,601

        The old generation ain’t buying their shit no moe. They grew up and got kidz. This new generation ain’t never heard about the Wu Coming Thru and all dat shit.

    30. i bought the wu-block album and its really fuckin dope. Of course it wasnt gonna sell much didnt even have a video or single to promote it.If you bought 2 chainz future or any thing associated with wayne you dont know shit bout hip hop id be ashamed to pull out them cd’s in front of people

      1. I didn’t buy either of those albums but you sound pretty stupid saying ppl don’t know anything about hip hop because they bought albums you don’t like. You can know everything in the world about hip hop and still want to listen to average rappers sometimes

      1. I don’t what these idiots are trying to achieve here, I doubt they know how much money a 100mil really is… This is one dumb ass fucken comment… BUNCH OF FAGGOTS

    31. curtis would probably buy 80% of his album…(i would hv said a few yrs back that interscope would buy the 80% for him to make his numbers look good, but after disrespecting Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine i doubt if this happens.so Curtis would hv to buy his albums himself-LETS FACE IT,THE MONKEY GOTS MONEY…LOADS AND TRIPPLE LOADS OF IT.HE DONT NEED YALL BROKE ASS INTERNET THUGS TO BUY HIS ALBUM bcos) another BISD numbers would put a nail to his musical coffin.I recon this is how its gona be.Curtis would do 300k 1st week(BOTH PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL COPIES-remember for his BISD they counted both to get his actual over 140k first week sales.)Curtis Jackson would buy 240k himself.Leaving about 15k digital copies @ $0.99cents on amazon to promote the album then another 20k for $9.99 on itunes for GUNIT stans to buy the rest 25k physical copies ….GTFOH!!!! OLD MAN. AINT NOBODY CHECKING OUT FOR CURTIS IN 2013.

    32. they didnt press that many wu block albums. probably 50gs worth. spread out in a certain demographic. i see freeway didnt make the top 200 bogus

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