Lupe Fiasco pulled the #1 spot as planned this week. The Chicago, Illinois emcee may have had his share of disagreements with Atlantic Records over the content and direction of his third album, Lasers, however the work sold over 200,000 first-week units. Lupe’s album features label-mate Trey Songz and longtime 1st & 15th singer Sarah Green.
Lasers beat out the #2 chart position, Adele’s 21, by over 70,000 units.
Floetry alum Marsha Ambrosious‘ long-delayed solo debut maintained a Top 10 position. The songstress is widely known in Hip Hop for her tenure as an artist at Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, as well as her feature work with Game, Slum Village and Busta Rhymes.
Chef Raekwon‘s third project in a year and a half nearly scored a Top 10 debut. Rae’s Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, a concept in development since 2007, sold almost 30,000 first-week units. Released on his own IceH20 imprint, and distributed through EMI, the Wu-Tang Clan member’s fifth solo work features Jim Jones, Black Thought and a reunion with Nas. Producers include Evidence, Oh No and legendary House deejay Kenny Dope.
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Recurring chart-toppers Bruno Mars and Rihanna closed out the upper-crust of the list with Doo-Wops & Hooligansand Loud respectively.
* 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 |
| 1 | Lupe Fiasco | Lasers | 204,000 | 204,000 |
| 8 | Marsha Ambrosius | Late Nights & Early Mornings | 41,000 | 137,000 |
| 12 | Raekwon | Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang | 29,000 | 29,000 |
| 14 | Bruno Mars | Doo-Wops & Hooligans | 25,000 | 821,000 |
| 15 | Rihanna | Loud | 25,000 | 1,065,000 |
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Young Money’s Nicki Minaj continues to carry her solo debut past the million-mark. Pink Friday is the DXnext alum’s record-breaking feat for a female in Hip Hop, both as a onetime #1 album, and consecutive weeks in the Top 10. Nicki’s mentor, Lil Wayne held in at #39 with his September 2009 digital album-turned-CD, I Am Not A Human Being. A twitpic of an internal Cash Money Records release schedule indicated that Wayne’s next album may come as soon as May of this year.
A collaborator to both Nicki and Wayne, Eminem’s Recovery came in at #19. The top-selling album of 2010 continues to surge towards four million sold.
Kanye West’s acclaimed My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy was at #32 this week. Another Chicago emcee, ‘Ye has previously formed a side-project with Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell, Child Rebel Soldier (C.R.S.). An artist who’s worked with Kanye, B.o.B., may have spent his last week on the Top 200, after a gold-selling run, for his debut, The Adventures of Bobby Ray.
| Rank | Artist | Album | This Week | Est. Total | |
| 16 | Nicki Minaj | Pink Friday | 25,000 | 1,214,000 | |
| 19 | Eminem |
| 22,000 | 3,717,000 | |
| 32 | Kanye West | My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy | 12,000 | 1,074,000 | |
| 39 | Lil Wayne | I Am Not A Human Being | 11,000 | 807,000 | |
| 193 | B.o.B. | The Adventures of Bobby Ray | 2,700 | 531,000 |
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Can Travis Barker bump his friend Lupe Fiasco to #2? Stay tuned to HipHopDX to find out.
