Eminem’s Recovery came in for a second strong helping of sales, carrying the Interscope/Aftermath release past the million mark in its second week. This release features appearances by Pop acts such as Rihanna and P!nk, as well as production from Just Blaze, Boi-1da and Mobb Deep’s Havoc.
Meanwhile, Drake heads towards his own seven-figure sales mark withThank Me Later. The Toronto rapper cleared 700,000 units, while his 2009 retail mixtape So Far Gone sits less than 10,000 units away from selling 500,000 overall. That feat is expected to be accomplished later this month, making Drake second to only Lil Wayne in his Universal Motown earning abilities for a post-2007 Rap artist.
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Def Jam Records had a promising week on the charts. R&B songwriting sensation The-Dream debuted at #4 with Love-King. The North Carolina singer/writer/producer’s third album in his Love series is short on guests, featuring only T.I., but scanned over 50,000 units. The Roots remained Top 20 with their latest, How I Got Over is their third with Def Jam Records. The album shows the group’s first “Jimmy Fallon-era” recordings, garnering critical acclaim. The group was home over 4th of July weekend, performing a free concert for their Philadelphia brothers and sisters.
Usher‘s Raymond v. Raymondremained at #14. The veteran Pop entertainer’s “divorce album” is marching its way to a platinum plaque for Mr. Raymond and his longtime backer, LaFace Records.
* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandth.
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Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 1 | Eminem | Recovery | 313,000 | 1,058,000 |
| 2 | Drake | Thank Me Later | 105,000 | 709,000 |
| 4 | The-Dream | Love King | 58,000 | 59,000 |
| 14 | Usher | Raymond v. Raymond | 24,000 | 898,000 |
| 17 | The Roots | How I Got Over | 21,000 | 72,000 |
Detroit singer Dwele struck a Top 30 debut with his E1 Entertainment-released W.ants W.orld W.omen. The man responsible for assisting two monster Kanye West singles (“Power”
and “Flashing Lights”) has a new album that features Slum Village, David Banner and DJ Quik. Dwele is presently on tour, before reportedly appearing on SV’s new album next month.
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Two non-traditional Rap acts cracked the charts for a second week. 116 Clique’s Trip Lee has released Between Two Worlds, which has scanned just under 8,000 units. The Philadelphia-by-way-of-Dallas native has released his third album through Reach Records. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Romeo, Michigan rapper Blaze Ya Dead Homie achieved chart success with his fourth album Gang Rangs. Released on the Insane Clown Posse’s Psychopathic Records, this release features veteran Michigan gangsta rappers The Dayton Family, as well as Kottonmouth Kings.
Z-Ro‘s Heroin stayed on the charts for a second week. The Rap-A-Lot Records’ unsung hero cleared 6,000 units, despite limited promotion and distribution. Meanwhile, sitting at over 499,500 units sold, Young Money‘s We Are Young Money joins Lil Wayne’s Rebirth and Drake’s Thank Me Later as the third release from Lil Wayne’s label to go gold this year. Although the official announcement will likely be made this week, the release will soon be followed by another gold plaque from So Far Gone, giving the Cash Money umbrella four 2010 gold plaques, and likely one platinum.
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| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 28 | Dwele | W.ants W.orld W.omen | 14,000 | 14,000 |
| 107 | Trip Lee | Between Two Worlds | 4,400 | 7,900 |
| 134 | Young Money | We Are Young Money | 3,800 | 500,000 |
| 193 | Blaze Ya Dead Homie | Gang Rags | 2,600 | 11,100 |
| 198 | Z-Ro | Heroin | 2,500 | 6,600 |
Will Big Boi give Def Jam Records three Top 20 appearances? Can Juvenile and Lil Flip join Big Boi to put it down for southern ’90s veterans? Stay tuned to HipHopDX to find out.
