Sophomore Albums From The Game, Akon Take #1, #2 Spots

Compton, California rapper The Game has proven his selling power despite label turmoil and the loss of production from Dr. Dre, as his sophomore album Doctor’s Advocate moved almost 360,000 copies the first week in stores. The Game, born Jayceon Taylor, suffered numerous setbacks while recording the album, which is expected to top the Billboard […]

Compton, California

rapper The Game has proven his selling power despite label turmoil and the loss

of production from Dr. Dre, as his sophomore album Doctor’s Advocate moved

almost 360,000 copies the first week in stores. The

Game, born Jayceon Taylor, suffered numerous setbacks while recording the album,

which is expected to top the Billboard charts next week. He

feuded with powerful rap collective 50 Cent and G-Unit and was eventually

shuffled off of the

powerhouse Aftermath/Interscope labels due to the negative publicity surrounding

the beef and his "G-Unot" campaign. The

rapper remained confident in numerous interviews that his album would be a best-seller,

despite the downward spiral of compact disc sales, due to fans purchasing and

downloading music off of the Internet.

The

Game even leaked the entire album himself on the Internet to give fans a preview

of the album. "Those

n***as, they want to get the album," The Game told AllHipHop.com a week before

the release. "Then I got my five times platinum fans that are going to get

the album, so I think I’m going to be alright. I’ma move some units. I’m do my

numbers and n***as gotta respect it. I know n***as is saying the climate [to sell

records] is f**ked up. F**ked up for who? Not me, I’m good."Game’s

debut The Documentary almost 600,000 units its first week in stores and has sold

over 4 million copies worldwide. Game’s

Doctor’s Advocate was released on Black Wall Street/A&M/Geffen, a unit

of Universal Music Group. UMG

scored another success with R&B singer/rapper Akon, as his SRC/Universal Motown

album Konvicted snagged the #2 spot, moving over 285,000 copies during

its first week on the shelves. Akon’s

sophomore album’s sales were powered by the success of his singles “Smack

That" with Eminem and "I Wanna Love You” featuring Snoop Dogg.“Akon

is one of the most versatile and talented personalities in all of Hip-Hop, with

his skills on full display in these two records with Eminem and Snoop Dogg,"

said SRC boss Steve Rifkind. "Some of the biggest stars in rap and pop are

lining up to work with him. His development since I signed him to the label has

been nothing short of remarkable. I’ve seen a great deal in my Hip-Hop career,

but the breakout of this album is unprecedented.”