Eminem’s Recovery finally let go of #1 – to Avenged Sevenfold. Rick Ross was close behind, however with almost 63,000 units moved of Teflon Don. The Def Jam rapper’s fourth official album features work from veterans such as No I.D., DJ Clark Kent and Cee-Lo. Drake’sThank Me Laterfell to #5, as Justin Bieber joined the party at #4, climbing from #6 last week.
Usher‘s Raymond v. Raymondslid just one spot after climbing nine the previous week. The veteran Pop entertainer’s “divorce album” is marching its way to a platinum plaque for Mr. Raymond and his longtime backer, LaFace Records. The album will feature two deluxe/additional material releases next month.
This week’s biggest surprise came courtesy of Kansas City’s Tech N9ne. No stranger to the charts, Tech’s third offering of “collabos,” this one called The Gates Mixed Plate got a Top 15 debut. Strange Music has had an impressive year on the Top 200 for an independent, with Tech joining Brotha Lynch Hung and Kutt Calhoun, who appeared previously. The Gates Mixed Plate features Glasses Malone, Devin The Dude and Jay Rock, among others.
* 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 |
| 2 | Eminem | Recovery | 159,000 | 1,828,000 |
| 3 | Rick Ross | Teflon Don | 63,000 | 239,000 |
| 5 | Drake | Thank Me Later | 34,000 | 915,000 |
| 12 | Usher | Raymond v. Raymond | 18,000 | 974,000 |
| 13 | Tech N9ne Collabos | The Gates Mixed Plate | 17,000 | 107,000 |
Outkast’s Big Boi slid to #23. His critically-acclaimed Def Jam debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty features artists such as T.I., Gucci Mane and Too Short, with production from Organized Noize, Scott Storch and Lil Jon.
Fat Joe debuted on the charts this week with The Darkside Volume 1. The release marks Joe’s debut with E1 Entertainment, and features work with DJ Premier, Just Blaze and Too Short. The darker-themed album has critics comparing it to Joe’s first three albums. Despite the strong praises, the work debuted at #27, with approximately 12,000 units sold.
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The Roots‘ acclaimed How I Got Over marches towards 150,000. The Def Jam release features extended Roots family Dice Raw, Truck North and others, in addition to Blu, Phonte and Peedi Peedi. Former Young Money and No Limit Records artist Curren$y fell 56 spots last week with his Def Jam-distributed Pilot Talk. Produced by Reasonable Doubt architect Ski Beatz, and featuring Mos Def and Jay Electronica, the New Orleans emcee is sitting just under 20,000 units overall.
What’s billed as their last album, Villa Manifestocracked the charts by Slum Village. Another E1 release, Manifesto features remaining SV members T3 and Elzhi, along with archival work from J Dilla and Baatin, and the controversial inclusion of Dilla’s brother Illa J, and producer Young RJ. Although the album has been met warmly critically, fans have reacted very differently to the lineup changes of the potential curtain call from true independent Rap icons.
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 23 | Big Boi | Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty | 13,000 | 120,000 |
| 27 | Fat Joe | The Darkside Volume 1 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 53 | The Roots | How I Got Over | 7,500 | 113,000 |
| 142 | Curren$y | Pilot Talk | 3,300 | 19,000 |
| 171 | Slum Village | Villa Manifesto | 2,700 | 2,800 |
Will Fat Joe go Top 5? Can Slum Village get the fanfare necessary to make another album? Stay tuned to HipHopDX to find out.
