Just in time for the new year, Nielsen Soundscan shared their annual report with select industry and media. This year’s results of retail and digital music sales included many Hip Hop stars such as Lil Wayne [click to read], Kanye West and Flo Rida.
For Wayne, the Cash Money Records veteran rapper had the top-selling album in any genre in his Tha Carter III [click to read]. His sixth studio album, which included hits “A Milli” [click to listen], “Lollipop” and “Mrs. Officer,” sold, according to the chart service, approximately 2,874,000 units this year. The effort, released June 10, edged out Coldplay‘s Viva La Vida, by over 700,000 units.
T.I.‘s Paper Trail [click to read] came in at #8, selling 1,522,000 units, as Beyonce‘s I Am…Sasha Fierce [click to read], released late this year, drew 1,459,000 units. The trio were the only urban artists in the Top 10, a list consisting of Country sensation Taylor Swift, veteran rockers AC/DC and Metallica, and the onetime Jive Records Rap artist-turned-Rock sensation, Kid Rock.
Despite Tha Carter III being the best-selling album, it was Taylor Swift, who had two Top 10-selling albums, that led all artist-sales, with over four million units from her entire catalog this year. Sampled by Boogie Down Productions in the ’80s, AC/DC also topped Wayne, putting the New Orleans rapper at third, selling 3,382,000 of total catalog in the last year. He was the only Hip Hop artist to make the Top 10.
