So this week I think I should open up ChartWatch
with a
disclaimer because a few people out there took issue with my treatment
of Plies
last week. Here goes:
The thoughts and statements contained in ChartWatch
are
strictly the opinion of DeVaughn and not that of AllHipHop.com. Any disparaging comments about Rick Ross (who
I will admit is getting better), Plies (who I will admit is getting
worse), Eminem
(who I’ve been waiting to drop a good album since The
Marshall Mathers LP), or any other rapper you like (love, hate,
emulate) is made by the writer, and the writer only.
So now that we got that out of the way, let’s move
on to
ChartWatch. First up, as if you didn’t
know, is Drake. The Canadian rapper’s
debut album, Thank Me Later, enters
the charts at number one and sells 462,989 copies. This
will make fans happy because he sold the
most and hit number one. Plus, it should
make haters happy because he didn’t sell the (imaginary) projected
figure of
one billion copies and save the music industry.
Congratulations to everyone!
Next up is Usher whose latest album, Raymond
v. Raymond, takes a slight drop from 12 to 13 and sells
29.046 copies.
Next up is Plies, a rapper that proves the age old
adage “associating
with goons will only keep you on top for a brief moment” (Or maybe it
was “let
sleeping goons lie”. Ok that’s not an
age old saying at all but nonetheless).
His latest, Goon Affiliated,
drops from 5 to 18, selling 18,696 copies.
It is a drop, but not as big as a lot of other Hip Hop artists
that fall
out of the top ten. We’ll see what
happens with the album next week.
The South Florida rapper is followed by Atlanta’s
own B.o.B
who continues to hold onto the charts with his debut, The
Adventures of Bobby Ray
.This week the album moves 18,626 copies and claims the number 19
spot.
I feel like I’ve been writing about this next album
since
this column started. The Black Eyed Peas
continue to flood the world with Hip Pop as their latest album, The E.N.D, moves another 18,403 copies and
takes the number 20 spot.
Next up is the Rap/Reggae duo Nas & Damian
Marley whose
collaborative effort, Distant Relatives,
sells 11,194 copies and helps them claim the number 36 spot.
They are followed by another Atlanta artist,
Ludacris, whose
latest album, Battle of the Sexes, takes
the number 39 spot by selling 10,356 copies.
Last up is Eminem.
That’s right Eminem. His last
album, Relapse, has popped back up in
the top fifty and claimed the 46th spot by selling 8,758
copies. I guess fans couldn’t wait for
Recovery and just had to hit the stores to get something from the 8 Mile
MC.
Dropping This Week
I’m going to start off with Slim Shady since
impatient fans
hit the stores a week early and put his last album on the charts instead
of
waiting for the new one. This week Eminem drops Recovery. Now this album
looks promising because it has a cheesy lead single, a sign that a good
Eminem
album is about to drop. (i.e. “My Name
Is” from The Slim Shady LP…good
album. “The Real Slim Shady” from The
Marshall Mathers LP…good album. “Without Me”
from The Eminem Show…wait, that
wasn’t the best album. Ok, this isn’t a
scientific poll. Maybe my theory is
wrong.) The new album contains features
from Kobe, Pink, Lil Wayne and Rihanna.
I don’t think I have to tell fans of Eminem to pick this one up.
Did you know The Roots were coming out with a new
album, and
if you did, why didn’t you tell the rest of us?
This week the band from Philly drops their 11th studio
album,
How I Got Over. The album
features Blu, John Legend, Phonte,
Dice Raw, and Peedi Peedi to name a few.
Like the last artist, I don’t think I have to tell Roots fans to
pick up
a copy. Actually, looking at album
sales, maybe I do….The Roots fans…go pick up a copy of How
I Got Over.
Madlib continues to drop his beat tapes adding
another notch
to his Medicine Show series. This week
he drops Medicine Show No. 6 Brain Wreck
Show. The Medicine Show series has
been pretty decent so fans may want to check this one out.
Plus, if you don’t buy it for the music, at
least buy it for the cover art.
Another producer known for his beat work is RJD2. This week he drops Inversions of Colossus. RJD2
puts out some seriously good production work so look forward to hearing
this
one.
There are rumors that Wu Tang is coming out with a
reality
show. This would be nice because, with
the whole group in the same house, fans might get an actual album out of
them. Now every time a new Wu Tang album drops
we
are forced to ask the following questions.
Is this a real Wu Tang album? Is it a compilation? A
greatest hits? Is this from some affiliated Wu
group? Or is
this just an interpretation album?” With
that said, this week WuMusic Group
Presents Pollen: The Swarm, Pt. 3
hits the stores. I’lllet Wu fans figure out what kind of
album this one is.
Houston underground rapper Z-Ro finishes what he
started
with the release of his last two albums Crack
and Cocaine. This week the Mo
City Don releases Heroin to complete his illegal
drug/album trilogy. I make a lot of
jokes about so-called “gangsta” rappers (especially one with an illegal
drug
album trilogy concept), but Z-Ro puts out some pretty decent music so
fans
might want to give him a listen.
Finally, Jedi Mind Tricks member, Vinny Paz, drops
his first
solo album, Season of the Assassin. Now,
Paz has been releasing albums since 1996
but this is his first time on his own (if you don’t count mixtapes). The new album features Freeway, Beanie Sigel,
Ill Bill, Sick Jacken, Paul Wall, and R.A. the Rugged Man to name a few. If you’re a fan of JMT or looking for some
underground Hip Hop then look no further.
Well, that’s it for the week. We’ll
see how artists hold up on the charts
next week. By the way, I saw the comment
last week about putting in overall sales figures…working on it now and
thanks
for the input.
