With no Rap/Hip Hop releases added to the charts this past holiday week, it was seven days for the movers and shakers of 2011 (and some from 2010) to gain rank. Game’sR.E.D. album, Tyler, the Creator’s Goblin and Tech N9ne’sAll 6’s & 7’sboth returned to the Top 200 after hiatuses, as significant chart gains were seen by Drake, Yelawolf, and especially Jay-Z & Kanye West, who gained 26 spots with Watch The Throne.
Drake’s Take Care Nearly Gets An Encore #1
Topped only by Adele’s 21, Drake nearly reclaimed the top spot on the charts. The Toronto emcee’s studio sophomore effort was just over 70,000 units behind the prodigous singer. Drizzy’s fourth overall commercial release (including the Young Money album) features Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Nicki Minaj. The work is sitting at just under 1.25 million copies sold for the Cash Money/Young Money family.
Rihanna and LMFAO Score Gold Albums
Two albums close to the Rap genre hit gold-status milestones this week. California duo LMFAO’s Interscope album, Sorry For Party Rocking crossed the 500,000 mark, as did Rihanna’s latest Def Jam release, Talk That Talk. RiRi’s album features Jay-Z, along with production from Hit-Boy, No I.D. and DXnext alum Alex da Kid. Busta Rhymes is featured on LMFAO’s sophomore album, along with producer GoonRock, who has also worked with veteran Los Angeles emcee Ahmad.
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Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 1/1/2012
#2. Drake – Take Care – 72,000 (1,247,000)
#3. Young Jeezy – TM 103: Hustler’s Ambition – 67,000 (301,000)
#5. LMFAO – Sorry For Party Rocking – 49,000 (524,000)
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#9. Rihanna –Talk That Talk – 42,000 (514,000)
#12. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV – 35,000 (1,917,000)
#14. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne – 27,000 (1,232,000)
#25. Common – The Dreamer / The Believer – 19,000 (88,000)
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#49. J. Cole – Cole World: The Sideline Story – 13,000 (498,000)
#68. The Roots – undun – 10,000 (95,000)
#88. Yelawolf – Radioactive – 7,500 (86,000)
* data comes from Nielsen Soundscan, rounded to nearest thousandth for units above 10,000, nearest hundredth for units below 10,000. Each week, HipHopDX presents top albums in Hip Hop/related, and five notables.
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Can Drake get another #1 later this month out of Take Care? What underground releases get a chance to shine on the charts in slower times?
