Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 1/23/2011

A 2009 Wiz Khalifa street album pops back up on the Top 200, while B.o.B. crosses 500,000, Lil Wayne crosses 700,000 and Kid Cudi shoots past 350,000 units sold.

Atlantic’s Bruno Mars continues his reign atop the charts this week, as his Doo Wops & Hooligans remained the top urban release with 34,000 units sold last week. To date, Bruno’s debut has sold 562,569 copies and spawned two number one singles—“Grenade” and “Just the Way You Are.”



Nicki Minaj was close behind with sales of 28,000. The success of her platinum-selling Pink Friday has carried over into 2011, and earlier this week it was announced she will join Lil Wayne on his “I Am Music II” tour.
At #12, Rihanna's Loud album continues to climb towards platinum, with features from Eminem, Drake and Nicki Minaj.
Falling six spots was Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The platinum album remains a constant Top 10 and Top 20 performer week-to-week.
Eminem's Recovery fell three spots to #17. As one of the year's best-selling albums, the Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records release will likely reach 3.5 overall domestic units sold next week. The work features production from Alex da Kid, DJ Khalil, Just Blaze and Mobb Deep's Havoc.
* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandth.
Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
6	Bruno Mars	Doo Wops & Hooligans	34,000	563,000
9	Nicki Minaj	Pink Friday	28,000	951,000
12	Rihanna	Loud	26,000	840,000
16	Kanye West	My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy	22,000	962,000
17	Eminem	Recovery	20,000	3,489,000

T.I.'s No Mercy stepped back two spots to #26. The emcee and label owner's latest album was released while he was incarcerated for probation violations earlier this year, involving drugs. The latest album from Tip features Kid Cudi, Scarface and Rocko, with production by DJ Toomp, Kanye West and Jake One.
Lil Wayne's digital-turned-physical 2010 release I Am Not A Human Being slid down seven spots to #34 in the last week. As predicted, the album crossed the 700,000 mark last week.
Houston, Texas' Lecrae fell 50 spots with his Rehab: The Overdose. Often categorized as a Christian emcee, the Reach Records star's latest release joined the original Rehab, which also remains on the charts. The album features Canon, J. Paul and production by Street Symphony.
Kid Cudi's Man On The Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager crossed the 350,000 mark last week. The G.O.O.D/Universal Motown sensation's latest album features mentor Kanye West, along with Cee Lo and veteran Brooklyn underground emcee Cage.

Released in November of 2009, a strange album popped back up on the charts this week. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania DXnext emcee Wiz Khalifa's Deal Or No Deal appeared in the Top 200 at #185. The iHipHop/Rostrum release took its name from the period in Wiz's career between leaving Warner Brothers Records, and recently signing to Atlantic. Wiz's second album released to stores features Curren$y, with production by Johnny Juliano, E. Dan and The Trackmasters' Frequency.

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
26	T.I.	No Mercy	14,000	382,000
34	Lil Wayne	I Am Not A Human Being	13,000	704,000
65	Lecrae	Rehab: The Overdose	6,700	22,000
75	Kid Cudi	Man On The Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager	6,200	353,000
185	Wiz Khalifa	Deal Or No Deal	2,300	55,000

Can Talib Kweli's Gutter Rainbows make a colorful splash on the charts? Can another Pittsburgh pioneer Sam Sneed make the charts with his Street Scholars album?

source hiphopdx