Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 5/30/2010

Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 5/30/2010
June 02, 2010 09:45:00 AM CDT

by Allen Jacobs

After last week's surprising debuts for two of Rap's most anticipated collaborative projects, the dust settled a bit. Usher's Raymond v. Raymond advanced to #5 from a #7 position last week. The veteran Pop entertainer's "divorce album" is marching its way to a platinum plaque for Mr. Raymond and his longtime backer, LaFace Records.
Damian Marley & Nas' Distant Relatives maintained a Top 10 spot, but fell five spots to #9. The Universal Republic/Def Jam Records collaborative release has garnered huge critical acclaim in the Rap community for its rich commentary on the parallel relationship between Hip Hop and Reggae. Lil Wayne, K'Naan, Dennis Brown and Joss Stone appear on the work produced by Damian and brother Stephen.
B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray fell just two notches to #15. The Rebel Rock sensation has the strongest commercial debut in Rap thus far in 2010, and will likely clear 200,000 units next week, as last year's Kid Cudi and Drake sit in the 300,000 and 400,000 units sold categories at present.
Will all the downward movement, The Black Eyed Peas and their nearly year-old E.N.D. release cleared the 2.5 million mark. The Interscope Records release remains a benchmark for its digital sales, and the label's success in this economic climate. Another 2009 release, Alicia Keys' Element of Freedom was included with the top five Rap/R&B sellers at #29. It was announced last week that the songstress and Swizz Beatz will be having their first child.

* 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

5

Usher

Raymond v. Raymond

35,000

757,000



9

Damian Marley & Nas Distant Relatives 25,000

83,000



15

B.o.B. Presents

The Adventures of Bobby Ray

20,000

190,000



21

Black Eyed Peas

The E.N.D.

17,000

2,552,000



29

Alicia Keys

Element of Freedom

12,000

1,292,00



Ludacris adjusted to #32 with Battle of the Sexes. The DTP/Def Jam album remains the imprint's most successful 2010 album to date, and carries itself towards a gold plaque, possibly due by mid-summer.



Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal's Revolutions Per Minute fell to #62 in its second week on shelves. With co-executive production by Sha Money XL, R.P.M. features appearances from Bun B, J. Cole, Mos Def and Jay Electronica, among an assortment of Pop/R&B appearances.



Trina's Pop-inspired album, Amazin' cleared 50,000 units sold, as expected. The Diamond Princess' independent release boasts backing by EMI Records, similar to releases by Raekwon and Twista last year. Speaking of southern veterans, 8Ball & MJG bumped to #123 with Ten Toes Down. Distributed through E1 Entertainment, the Grand Hustle project is executive produced by T.I., and features an extensive guest-list of contemporaries and newer artists influenced by the Memphis mainstays.
The lone new release to the charts is Cam'ron & The U.N.'s Heat In Here Volume 1. The Warner Brothers/Asylum-backed project is very similar to Gucci Mane's The Burrrprint [2] HD release, which also charted. Cam's latest crew includes Vado and Byrd Lady, among others.

Rank Artist Album This Week Est. Total

32

Ludacris

Battle of the Sexes

12,000

429,000



62

Reflection Eternal

Revolutions Per Minute

6,800

28,000



85

Trina Amazin'

5,400

54,000



123

8Ball & MJG Ten Toes Down 4,200

33,000



133

Cam'ron & The U.N. Present...

Heat In Here Volume 1

3,700

3,800

From HipHopDX.com
 
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.11376/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-5-30-2010

Tuesday Rap Release Dates: 8Ball & MJG, Reflection Eternal, Game

Tuesday Rap Release Dates: 8Ball & MJG, Reflection Eternal, Game
March 02, 2010 10:03:00 AM CST | by Mitchell Hanna

While Nas and Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives and Capone-N-Noreaga’s The War Report II have relocated to May 25 and June 15, respectively, Reflection Eternal will now fill their void on April 20. The following is the release schedule for March and April:



March 2
B. Dolan Fallen House, Sunken City
DJ Khaled Victory
Eric Lau Kilawatt V2
Jason Derulo Jason Derulo
K. Sparks A Day In The Life
Keak Da Sneak & Benner The ALLinner Album
Raheem DeVaughn The Love & War Masterpeace
SMC Recordings A Taste Of Dopeness
T-Rock (Formerly of Hypnotize Minds) Life Lessons: The Burning Book: Chapter II





March 9
Ayatollah Jaxx (of Good Company) Hello, Hip Hop
Blacastan The Master Of Reality
Broken Bells (Danger Mouse & James Mercer) Broken Bells
DaVinci The Day The Turf Stood Still
Gorillaz Plastic Beach
Kidz In The Hall (of Duck Down Records) Land Of Make Believe
Ludacris Battle Of The Sexes
Soulcrate Music The Heartland Panic
U-N-I & Ro Blvd. A Love Supreme 2.0

March 16
Amp Live (of Zion I) Murder At The Discotech
Flobots Survival Story
Guce & Matt Blaque A Gangsta & A Gentleman
LMNO fOnk garden
Main Flow (of Mood) Return Of The Castle
Moka Only (as Ron Contour) Rontario
Pastor Troy (of D.S.G.B.) G.I. Troy: Strictly 4 My Soldiers
Swollen Members Greatest Hits: Ten Years Of Turmoil
X-Raided Block Bizniz
X-Raided The Unforgiven 2.5: Assisted Suicide (Collector’s Edition)

March 23
Brotha Lynch Hung Dinner And A Movie
Dashah Rap Burglar 3: The Final Apprentice
Donwill (of Tanya Morgan) Don Cusack In High Fidelity
Fashawn Boy Meets World (Deluxe Edition)
Inspectah Deck (of Wu-Tang Clan) Manifesto
J-Kwon J-Kwon
Madlib Madlib Medicine Show No. 3: Beat Konducta In Africa
Marco Polo & Ruste Juxx (of Duck Down Records) The eXXecution
Moka Only (as Ron Contour) & Factor Saffron
Monica Still Standing
Sadat X (of Brand Nubian) Wild Cowboys II
Snoop Dogg More Malice
TQ Kind Of Blue

March 30
Army Of The Pharaohs The Unholy Terror
Curren$y Pilot Talk
E-40 Revenue Retrievin’: Day Shift
E-40 Revenue Retrievin’: Night Shift
Erykah Badu New Amerykah Pt. 2 (Return Of The Ankh)
Masta Killa (of Wu-Tang Clan) Live
Meth-Ghost-Rae (of Wu-Tang Clan) Wu-Massacre
Mulatu Astatke Mulatu Steps Ahead
Murs & 9th Wonder Fornever
Redman Reggie
Tech N9ne (of Strange Music Records) The Lost Scripts Of K.O.D.
Usher Raymond V. Raymond
Wordsmith Vintage Experience

April 6
8Ball & MJG Ten Toes Down
BLESTeNATION Welcome To MBugout City
Chief Kamachi The Clock Of Destiny
Chosen Few New World Symphony
Cypress Hill Rise Up
Diabolic Liar & A Thief
Insane Clown Posse Bang! Pow! Boom! (Nuclear Version)
Madlib (as Young Jazz Rebels) Slave Riot
Solomon Burke Nothing’s Impossible
Too $hort Still Blowin’
Vivian Green Beautiful

April 13
Flying Lotus DJ Kicks
MGMT Congratulations
Spectac & Amiri (of HiPNOTT Records) Almost Famous
yU (of Diamond District) Before Taxes

April 20
Andre Nickatina Khan! The Me Generation
Bizzy Bone (of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) Crossroads 2010
Brisco Street Medicine
Cognito (of Strange Music Records) Automatic
Danny Boy (Formerly of Death Row Records) It’s About Time
Devin The Dude (Formerly of Rap-A-Lot Records) Suite #420
Game (Formerly of G-Unit) The R.E.D. Album
Georgia Anne Muldrow Turiya’s Smile
Goldtoes N Berner R All N Ur Pockets: The Soundtrack
Kottonmouth Kings Long Live The Kings
Kurupt (of Tha Dogg Pound) Streetlights
Little Brother LeftBack
Messy Marv The Shooting Range
Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek) Revolutions Per Minute
Roc Marciano (Formerly of Flipmode Squad) Marcberg
Roc Marciano (Formerly of Flipmode Squad) Marcberg 12” EP
Sleepy D (of Town Thizzness Records) Sleep Deprivation
TRUTHLiVE Patience

April 27
B.o.B. (a.k.a. Bobby Ray) The Adventures Of Bobby Ray
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Uni5: The World’s Enemy
D. Woods (of Dannity Kane) My Favorite Color
J-Hood (Formerly of D-Block) $orry I Made You Wait
One Be Lo (of Binary Star) B.A.B.Y. (Being A Black Youth)
Yo Gotti Live From The Kitchen

Looking further out, Common’s The Best Of Common: Go!, Roscoe Dash’s Ready Set Go!, and Keith Sweat’s Ridin’ Solo are slated for May 4, May 11, and May 25, respectively. Meanwhile, Joell Ortiz’s Free Agent, Nappy Roots’ The Pursuit To Nappyness, Cam’ron and The U.N.’s Gunz N’ Butta, and Three 6 Mafia’s Laws Of Power have been pushed back until May 18, June 8, June 29, June 29, in that order

From HipHopDX.com

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.10744/title.tuesday-rap-release-dates-8ball-mjg-reflection-eternal-game

News Bits: Reflection Eternal, Army of the Pharaohs, and Hip Hop's Hall of Fame

DX News Bits: Reflection Eternal, Army of the Pharaohs, and Hip Hop's Hall of Fame
February 04, 2010 01:38:00 PM CST | by Andres Tardio

The rise of Twitter has many emcees choosing to leak information on their own as of late. That happens to be the case with Talib Kweli, who took to his Twitter page to announce the release of Reflection Eternal's forthcoming album, Revolutions Per Minute.

Noting as the album's "official release date," Kweli said it will hit store shelves and online stores on April 6. "Spread the word," he added.

The album has been highly anticipated for years. Anticipation grew when the two released "Back Again " last year.

Another group also used their Twitter account to announce release information. @JMTHipHop recently let out information about the Army of Pharaohs album.

"We have an official release date for the new Army of the Pharaohs The Unholy Terror album...March 30, 2010."

Vinnie Paz, Reef the Lost Cauze, Apathy, Celph Titled, Esoteric and more will be a part of this release.

In other news, the Hip Hop Hall of Fame will open its doors in June of this year. Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Bros, RockHall inductee Melle Mel, Kurtis Blow, Pebblee Pool, L.A. Sunshine, Kool Herc are all on the advisory board which now features Easy Mo Bee as the Hall of Fame's Music Producer.

Easy Mo Bee will handle production for the red carpet event opening of the Hall of Fame, which will be taking place in New York City.

Mo Bee is most known for producing much of Notorious B.I.G.'s debut, Ready To Die, as well as 2Pac's acclaimed 1995 album, Me Against The World. Presently, he is said to be working on an album with MC Eiht.

From HipHopDX.com

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.10569/title.dx-news-bits-reflection-eternal-army-of-the-pharaohs-and-hip-hops-hall-of-fame