THIS WEEK HIP-HOP & R&B ALBUMS SALES

Changing his sound this time around, Kanye's 808's & Heartbreak was able to find love as fans consumers helped him grab No. 1. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the rap star received his third consecutive No. 1 release nearly going gold with 451,400 copies sold his first week in stores.

R&B superstar Beyonce slid three spots as I Am...Sasha Fierce landed at No. 4 this week moving 257,400 albums. Officially certified gold in two week's time, her latest project has sold a total of 740,600 copies.

ATL rapper Ludacris hits this week's charts as Theater of the Mind opened up at No. 5. Despite not securing that number one spot, Luda's sixth solo project was able to scan 214,100 in its first week.

Fellow Atlanta rapper T.I. has continued to perform well with Paper Trail sliding just two spots to No. 16 with 74,800 sold albums this week. Hearing little backlash proclaiming he is the "King of the South," Tip shows off the numbers game with 1,303,800 discs sold after nine weeks in stores.

T-Pain is still finding his tune in the charts as Thr33 Ringz dropped nine positions to No. 21 selling 48,700 copies this week. His third project is slowly moving units as it sits at 278,300 sold discs after three weeks on shelves.

Video vixen Rihanna shows no signs of slowing down her record sales as the re-released Good Girl Gone Bad album moved up four spots to No. 34 selling 35,100 copies. One of the few albums to reach double platinum status, the singer's latest project has pushed 2,057,400 discs after 78 weeks in stores.

Soulful singer John Legend fell 19 spots to No. 37 as Evolver gathered up 33,300 sold albums. His third solo project continues its slow pace with 330,300 scanned copies after five weeks.

Moving up two spots this week is Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter III, which secured No. 39 with 31,900 discs sold. Showing no signs of falling out of Top 50 any time soon, Weezy's latest disc stands at 2,726,600 sold albums after 25 weeks.

E-40 debuted this week with Ball Street Journal landing at No. 42. The Bay area rapper's 11th disc was able to move 30,700 copies after one week in stores.

R&B superstar Ne-Yo evens out the Top 50 this week as Year of the Gentleman slipped one spot to No. 45 selling 28,400 units. The singer's third album has sold 650,500 records after 11 weeks of availability.