Alicia Keys took back the #1 spot this week, in her off-again, on-again reign, weathering each week’s new additions. Ms. Keys was joined by Rock outfits The Mars Volta and Bullet For My Valentine, who held #3 and #4 respectively, after The Juno Soundtrack. Keyshia Cole gained over 17% in sales since last week, bumping Chris Brown and getting a strong surge of Interscope energy. Lupe Fiasco fell from the Top 5 overall urban artists for the first week since his release. G.O.O.D. Music crooner John Legend joins the charts with his live album, closing out the caption with a #27 spot.
Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Total |
| 1 | Alicia Keys | As I Am | 61,259 | 2,907,459 |
| 6 | Mary J Blige | Growing Pains | 47,219 | 1,132,462 |
| 8 | Keyshia Cole | Just Like You | 36,412 | 1,095,743 |
| 11 | Chris Brown | Exclusive | 33,311 | 1,059,331 |
| 27 | John Legend | Live From Philadelphia | 20,117 | 70,158 |
As predicted, a new single pushed Soulja Boy back into the mix, as the prodigy pushes for a platinum plaque by spring. The 17-year-old bumped ahead of Lupe in doing so. Birdman also climbed ahead of mainstays Jay-Z and Kanye West despite lacking the initial sales of his super-star peers.
Other Notables…
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Total |
| 31 | Soulja Boy | Souljaboytellem.com | 18,899 | 745,968 |
| 44 | Lupe Fiasco | The Cool | 15,841 | 302,052 |
| 57 | Birdman | 5*Stunna | 12,807 | 246,196 |
| 61 | Jay-Z | American Gangster | 12,092 | 965,368 |
| 63 | Kanye West | Graduation | 12,011 | 1,970,212 |
Next month, legend Pete Rock drops his highly anticipated New York’s Finest, along with new albums by Erykah Badu, Rick Ross, Akrobatik, and many more. It’s getting warmer this February, but will the charts reflect it?
