(Week Ending On 2/28/12)
After her passing, both the legacy and music of the beloved Whitney Houston lives on. This week, Houston became the first singer to have three albums simultaneously chart in the Top 10. Whitney’s Greatest Hits (RCA) came in at #2 after selling just under 170,000 copies in the past week while the soundtrack to The Bodyguard (RCA) came in at #6 and had a 284 percent sales increase from the week prior. Lastly, coming in at #8 is her self-titled album which increased 79 percent and sold an estimated 31,000 copies
Young Money’s Tyga debuted at #4 with his sophomore studio album Careless World: Rise of the Last King (Cash Money/Universal) which sold 64,742 units, despite having a number of physical copies removed from major retailers after a clearance issue regarding a Martin Luther King Jr. sample arose just as the album was scheduled to hit stores.
Chiddy Bang’s official debut Breakfast (I.R.S/Virgin) charted at #9 after one full week in stores. The album moved 30,866 copies, which may be attributed to the success of the duo’s single “Ray Charles”.
Drake’s Take Care (YM/CM/Universal) and Rihanna’s Talk That Talk (Def Jam) claim the #13 and #14 spots respectively. Drake’s platinum-certified sophomore album moved just over 25,000 copies, a 18 percent decrease from the previous week, while Rihanna’s new album moved 23,043 copies.
Coming in at #25, one spot up from last week, is Young Jeezy with his Gold-certified album TM103 (Def Jam), which moved 16,056 copies. The Throne, a.k.a. Jay-Z and Kanye West, charted at #30 this week with their Watch the Throne (RocNation/Roc-A-Fella) album landed at #25 this week selling 14,308 copies. The duo recently revealed plans to embark on an international tour beginning this week.
Dropping This Week (2/28/12)
Maino released The Day After Tomorrow, the Brooklyn rapper’s second studio album, which contains the singles “Let It Fly,” “That Could Be Us” featuring Robbie Nova, and “Gangstas Ain’t Dead” featuring PUSH! Montana and Mouse. Other guests on the album include T.I., Meek Mill, Mista Raja, and Roscoe Dash. Production on The Day After Tomorrow comes from Mista Raja, GQ Beats, Chris Styles, and more.
Ja Rule, who is currently serving time in prison, released the follow-up to 2001′s triple-Platinum album, Pain Is Love, entitled PIL2. The seventh studio album from Ja was entirely produced by 7 Aurelius and features Leah Siegel, Jon Doe, Kaleena from Dirty Money, and many more.
Dropping Next Week (3/06/12)
No notable Hip-Hop releases next week.
