The large debut this came courtesy of John Legend & The Roots‘ Wake Up! Released through Columbia/Sony Records, the G.O.O.D Music singer and the Philadelphia mainstays linked to update soulful classics, with covers of tunes by Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Bill Withers, Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes and more. The release garnered a Top 10 debut, selling just under 65,000 first week units. Further down the charts, this summer’s album from The Roots, How I Got Over, sits just units below the 150,000 mark, with giant critical praise.
Eminem’s Recovery was challenged to #6 this week. The Detroit superstar, who has now been invited to a charity boxing match from Nick Cannon, made way for releases by Zac Brown Band, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Selena Gomez and Santana.
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Singer Trey Songz was just units behind Em with his Passion, Pain & Pleasure. Now crossing the 300,000 mark, Trey may now be Atlantic Records’ biggest star in the wake of T.I.’s legal woes. The Petersburg, Virginia native’s fourth album features Drake and Nicki Minaj. Drake’s Thank Me Later fell five spots to close out the Top 20. The Toronto emcee’s single “Fancy” gives the sensation a fourth single from his platinum-selling official debut.
Usher‘s EP, Versus moved nine spots to #25. The supplementary release to this year’s Raymond v. Raymond fell just two spots. Drumma Boy, Polow Da Don and Jim Jonsin are amoung the producers on the EP.
* 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 |
| 6 | Eminem | Recovery | 66,000 | 2,656,000 |
| 7 | Trey Songz | Passion, Pain & Pleasure | 66,000 | 306,000 |
| 8 | John Legend & The Roots | Wake Up! | 63,000 | 63,000 |
| 20 | Drake | Thank Me Later | 15,000 | 1,086,000 |
| 25 | Usher | Versus | 13,000 | 117,000 |
As B.o.B. cleared begins his reach for gold with, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, two southern Rap pioneers held things down just outside the #100 spot. UGK co-founder Bun B‘s Trill O.G. is expected to cross the 100,000 mark next week. The Rap-A-Lot Records release features Drakem Gucci Mane and Yo Gotti, along with production from Boi-1da and DJ Premier. Meanwhile, Outkast co-founder Big Boi‘s Def Jam Records debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty fast approaches 200,000. The acclaimed release features T.I., Too Short and Yelawolf as guests, with production from Lil Jon, Scott Storch and ‘Kast partner Andre 3000.
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Releases from Atmosphere, Bilal and Black Milk all skated off off the Top 200, while Brooklyn, New York star Fabolous held on with retail mixtape There Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Mixtape. The Street Fam head’s Def Jam release features Cam’ron, Red Cafe, Vado and production from Ryan Leslie. In its third week on the charts, the release cleared 22,000 units sold.
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| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 47 | B.o.B. | The Adventures of Bobby Ray | 8,100 | 412,000 |
| 103 | Bun B | Trill O.G. | 3,800 | 96,000 |
| 106 | Big Boi | Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son of Chico Dusty | 3,600 | 175,000 |
| 131 | The Roots | How I Got Over | 3,000 | 148,000 |
| 188 | Fabolous | There Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Mixtape | 2,300 | 24,000 |
With Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Trae Tha Truth and others closing down September, will debut Rap releases swarm the charts for some interesting movement? Stay tuned to HipHopDX.
