According to Billboard.com, Nielsen SoundScan’s R&B/Hip Hop charts reports that album sales for R&B/Hip Hop are down 19 percent from this time last year. In 2013, 23.7 million albums were sold as opposed to this year’s 19.13 million. By mid-July last year, Lil Wayne's I Am Not A Human Being II, Tyler The Creator's Wolf, Kid CuDi's Indicud, French Montana's Excuse My French, J. Cole's Born Sinner, Kanye's Yeezus, and Jay Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail had all made solid debuts on the charts.
The news isn't bad for the entire genre, however.
Beyoncé is still holding strong on the SoundScan charts almost six months after her self-titled album dropped unexpectedly this past December. With just over 700,000 copies sold this year, the album's sales helped the singer top the Top 10 Selling R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Year To Date chart.
On the rap end of the spectrum, Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 continues to sell like hot cakes almost eight months after its initial release. The release secured the #3 spot on SoundScan’s list with 419,000 copies sold so far in 2014. Other rappers to make it onto the list include Rick Ross (Mastermind, #4), ScHoolboy Q (Oxymoron, #7), and Drake (Nothing Was The Same, #8).
Pharrell, meanwhile, finds himself in the number two slot with 452,000 units sold. The album's lead single, "Happy," also reached the #1 spot on the Top 10 Selling R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs, Year To Date chart with sales for the song at 5,633,000.
Are the sales a good indicator of the quality of the music being released this year? Share your thoughts in comments.