Hip Hop Album Sales: This Week

Continuing to show he’s here for the long haul, Young Jeezy stays a top contender in album sales this week as The Recession pushes out an easy 89,940 units. According to the Nielsen Soundscan, Jeezy moved one slot down to No. 2 on this week’s Billboard 200. Going in to his second week on the charts, his new album features a star-studded line-up including Kanye West, Jay-Z and Nas. As of today, the disc has sold a total 350,510 albums.

The West Coast is still alive in Top 10 as The Game slide four spots to No. 7 with his L.A.X. selling 49,240 copies this week. Coming off of the recent success defeating Bow Wow in his much-publicized Madden '09 match-up, Game offers hip-hop fans a steady line-up of varied artists including DMX, Ne-Yo, Common, Ludacris, Keyshia Cole, Bilal and others. His third and final album has sold a total 377,100 copies after just three weeks in stores.

Moving up two spots on this week’s charts is multi-platinum selling rapper Lil’ Wayne who landed the No. 8 spot. Tha Carter III sold an impressive 47,350 units over the past seven days with the help of his current hit single “Mrs. Officer” featuring Bobby Valentino. After recently winning the "Best Hip-Hop Video" for “Lollipop” at this year’s VMAs, Weezy’s latest effort has moved 2,410,000 copies in just 14 weeks.

The most notable release of the week came from Hip-Hop’s “G.O.A.T” LL Cool J as he made his long-awaited return. LL’s Exit 13 debuted at No. 9 this week. Following-up his certified gold 2006 release, Todd Smith, LL Cool J’s final Def Jam release sold 43,646 copies in its opening week. The disc features guest appearances from 50 Cent, Lil’ Mo, Wyclef Jean plus the club smash “Baby” featuring The Dream.

Grammy-nominated singer Eric Benet also debuted this week with his latest release Love & Life reaching the No. 11 spot on the charts with 40,135 units sold. His new single “You’re The Only One” is reportedly making its way up charts and is his most recent song to hit Top 20 in two years.

R&B vixen Rihanna moved up one spot to No. 12 as her re-released Good Girl Gone Bad sold 34,880 albums this week. The newly updated version features three additional tracks on top of her smash hits including the Grammy award-winning single “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z and her latest gem “Take A Bow.” Her third Def Jam release has sold a remarkable 1,780,360 albums.

Led by lead singer, Travis McCoy, Gym Class Heroes made their long-awaited debut on the charts this week as their new album The Quilt landed at No. 14 with 32,196 copies pushed out of stores. With production by Cool & Dre, the group’s latest effort also features guest appearances by Estelle, Busta Rhymes and The Dream.

British soul singer Leona Lewis, who recently reached platinum, continues to sell records as her debut album Spirit moved a solid 21,520 copies this week landing her at No. 22. After 23 weeks on the charts, Lewis has sold a total of 1,085,880 units.

Despite the smash hit “Dangerous” featuring hook slayer Akon, Kardinal Offishall’s new project Not 4 Sale made little buzz as it debuted at No. 40 this week selling 11,870 copies. Kardinal’s fourth studio release features mega hitmakers T-Pain, Sean Paul, Rihanna, Glenn Lewis, The Clipse and many others.

Former NWA rap slayer Ice Cube has dropped to No. 41 as his latest release Raw Footage sold 11,770 albums this week. His eighth solo release features appearances by fellow Californian rappers WC, The Game, as well as hip-hop lyrical greats Nas and Scarface. After four weeks on the charts, Cube has seen 130,560 copies sold.

Chris Brown makes his return to the charts this week moving up seven spots to No. 46 as his Exclusive sold 10,130 copies this week. Showing he can hang with the superstars, his sophomore album features special guests T-Pain, Lil’ Wayne, Big Boi and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am. After 45 weeks on the charts, Chris Breezy has sold a grand total of 1,788,230 copies.