Def Jam’s fourth quarter showed another dismal result in Sheek Louch’s first major label release in close to a decade, barely making the charts. Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj continues to out-sell Kanye West week-to-week for the third straight time. Will she reach a million first?
Michael Jackson’s Michael entered the charts in the Top 3. The posthumous album that the King of Pop was working with prior to his death last year featured both Akon and 50 Cent, and has been widely criticized by fans, as well as will.i.am for its respect to the artist. The project sold just under 230,000 first-week units.
R. Kelly returned to the charts at #6. The Chicago, Illinois crooner released his tenth studio album, Love Letter. The Jive Records go-round features label-mate, K. Michelle.
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After leaving Atlantic Records distribution for Interscope, Diddy and Dirty Money’s Last Train To Paris finally released this month. The love-focused concept album features Drake, T.I. and Rick Ross, and debuted in the Top 10 at #7, selling just over 100,000 units for the Bad Boy Records mogul.
DXnext alum Nicki Minaj also stayed in the Top 10 with Pink Friday. The effort out-sold the critically-acclaimed Kanye West album, which was released on the same November 22 date, falling just two spots from last week. Featuring both Nicki’s brand of singing and rapping, Pink Friday has appearances from will.i.am, Drake and Eminem.
Minaj collaborator Rihanna watched her Loud fell two spots herself this week. With features from Drake, Eminem and the aforementioned Nicki Minaj, Loud continues to attract fans through its multiple singles and happier themes compared to RiRi’s past albums.
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* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandth.
Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 3 | Michael Jackson | Michael | 228,000 | 228,000 |
| 6 | R. Kelly | Love Letter | 154,000 | 154,000 |
| 7 | Diddy-Dirty Money | Last Train To Paris | 101,000 | 101,000 |
| 8 | Nicki Minaj | Pink Friday | 97,000 | 658,000 |
| 11 | Rihanna | Loud | 84,000 | 579,000 |
T.I.‘s No Mercy stayed in the Top 20 in its second week. The emcee and label owner’s latest album was released while he was incarcerated for probation violations earlier this year, involving drugs. At just under 230,000 units, the latest album from Tip features Kid Cudi, Scarface and Rocko, with production by DJ Toomp, Kanye West and Jake One.
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The #21 and #22 spots were held by Eminem’s Recovery and Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy respectively.
Lloyd Banks‘ third solo album, H.F.M. 2 (The Hunger For More 2) sold just under 6,000 units this week. With a gold single and high-profile appearances from Kanye West, 50 Cent, Raekwon and Eminem (on the iTunes version), Banks’ acclaimed comeback album is heading towards the 75,000.
Lastly, after last week’s dismal Redman debut (an album that failed to make the charts in its second week), one of Def Jam Records’ premiere signings, The L.O.X.’s Sheek Louch, snuck into the final two spots of the charts. The Yonkers, New York’s first major label solo in over seven years, Donnie G: Don Gorilla sold approximately 5,400 first-week units. The album features Bun B and Fabolous, in addition to his D-Block brethren.
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| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total |
| 20 | T.I. | No Mercy | 69,000 | 229,000 |
| 21 | Eminem | Recovery | 69,000 | 3,214,000 |
| 22 | Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 66,000 | 738,000 |
| 182 | Lloyd Banks | H.F.M. 2 (The Hunger For More 2) | 5,800 | 69,000 |
| 198 | Sheek Louch | Donnie G: Don Gorilla | 5,400 | 5,500 |
Will Ghostface Killah and Apollo Kids raid the charts? Stay tuned to HipHopDX.
