Like last week, there were two big additions to the charts this week. Strange Music’s Krizz Kaliko’s fourth solo album very nearly landed a Top 40. At #42, Krizz garnered his strongest chart performance to date and the latest in a run of Strange Music successes outside of Tech N9ne releases. Killer Mike’s sixth solo album, produced entirely by Brooklyn’s El-P, independently achieved a Top 100 placement, along with some of the biggest critical praise in an already heralded career.
Also debuting on the charts is Interscope Records-backed rapper-singer Rye Rye’s first solo album, Go! Pop! Bang!. Her album features production from The Neptunes, Bangladesh and Play-N-Skillz. Mac Miller and Bad Meets Evil also returned to the Top 200 after hiatus with some releases being down, moving room on the bottom of the charts.
Killer Mike Sells R.A.P. Music To The People
Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music, debuting at #77, is the best first-week showing for the rapper since his 2003 major label debut, Monster. R.A.P. is already one of the releases getting “album of the year” talk from fans, as 2012 approaches its midpoint. The Williams Street release, an Adult Swim subsidiary, released Mike’s sixth album, the first produced by El-P, known for co-founding Company Flow and his groundbreaking work with Cannibal Ox. Fellow Southern Rap veterans T.I. and Bun B appear on the album, along with scratching from longtime Eyedea musical partner, DJ Abilities. Earlier this week, Mike spoke in-depth with HipHopDX about the chemistry he’s found with El.
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Krizz Kaliko’s Kickin’ & Screamin’ Sets A New Personal Best
With 2009’s Genius achieving a #85 debut, Krizz Kaliko nearly doubled his personal best with Kickin’ & Screamin’ first-appearing on the charts at #42. The Strange Music release features platinum stars such as T-Pain, Chamillionaire and Twista, with the Kansas City native toying with EDM and Dubstep on some of his production. K&S arrives after extensive touring with Tech N9ne in 2011 and 2012.
Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 5/20/2012
#15. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded– 21,000 (475,000)
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#20. B.o.B. – Strange Clouds – 16,000 (118,000)
#35. Drake – Take Care – 10,000 (1,744,000)
#42. Krizz Kaliko – Kickin’ & Screamin’ – 9,500 (9,500)
#54. Future –Pluto – 7,000 (86,000)
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#55. Tyga – Careless World: Rise Of The Last King – 7,000 (228,000)
#77. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music – 5,300 (5,300)
#106. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne – 3,500 (1,432,000)
#149. Ab-Soul – #ControlSystem – 3,400 (7,700)
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#166. Trip Lee – The Good Life – 2,100 – (33,000)
* 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.
Will El-P’s Cancer For Cure make it back-to-back weeks for the Fort Greene emcee/producer? Stay tuned to HipHopDX.
