This week all eyes are Kanye West, J. Cole and Mac Miller. But mainly Kanye West. The three rappers are releasing their respective projects two days from now (Tuesday, June 18th) and we will be watching the sales and the charts to see where each artist lands. While it's been generally assumed that Yeezy will lord over the other releases, there have been some people who say Cole's Born Sinner will dominate (such as DJ Drama). Mac Miller, who debuted at #1 independently with his freshman effort Blue Slide Park, seems to be targeting a different kind of audience with his sound on Watching Movies With The Sound Off. Mac Miller is also taking a different approach to the June 18th release date than J. Cole. Mac admitted he was scared of dropping the same day as Mr. West, and he seems to have accepted the fact that he will not sell as many records as Yeezus. Jermaine, though, is in full-out competition mode for the June 18th date, and he hasn't been shy about announcing it. At this point, all three albums have sprung a leak, so fans will already know whether or not they're feeling any LP enough to break out their wallet for it, and so this could also play a factor in the debut numbers. Check back next week to find out where they land on the charts, and for now, peep the entries from the past seven days below.
1) Justin Timberlake—The 20/20 Experience: As Justin launches a new single into the radio-sphere, “Tunnel Vision,” it’s possible we’ll see a spike in his sales. Not that Justin needs it, the consistent singer remains at the #9 spot this week, that’s after 12 weeks on the Billboard 200. The 20/20 Experience sold 26,949 units this past week.
2) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis—The Heist: You know you won’t be rid of these two that easily. This week the duo climbs back up from the #18 spot last week, to the #12 spot this week. The Heist sold another 22k this week.
3) Lil Wayne— I Am Not A Human Being II: Weezy F recently revealed that there will be a Dedication 5, although who knows how far away that day is. For now, fans will have to keep themselves occupied with IANAHB2, which dropped three spots from the last week, at #33 now. The album moved 11, 109 copies.
4) French Montana— Excuse My French: NY native French Montana’s debut album isn’t moving the “classic” numbers like French was hoping for. His album sales for Excuse My French continue to wane, as he drops to the #28 spot this week. French managed to sell 10, 868 units.
5) The-Dream— IV Play: The-Dream debuted last week on the Billboard 200 with his r'n'b album at #16. This week the artist comes in at #41, for his second week on the Billboard 200.
6) Rihanna— Unapologetic: Rihanna’s first #1-debuting-album is making its way down the charts, coming in at #43 this week. The Rihanna Navy picked up around 8k copies of Unapologetic over the last seven days.
7) Kendrick Lamar— good kid, m.A.A.d city: Although TDE is turning its focus to the Black Hippy up next, ScHoolboy Q, K. Dot’s fame continues to grow. This week the rapper’s debut album comes in just below the top 50 of the Billboard 200, at #51. While that is down from last week, it’s not half-bad considering he’s been charting for 33 weeks.
In other news on the charts this week, Kid Ink, whose EP Almost Home debuted on the Billboard 200 at #27, but this week the rapper drops down to the #75 spot on the Billboard 200. Tyga's Hotel Calfornia dropped to #93 this week, after nine weeks on the charts. Kid Cudi's INDICUD dropped even further than T-Raww, coming in at #103, and he's been on the charts one week less than Tyga (eight weeks). Single-wise, J. Cole's record with Miguel, "Power Trip," has jumped from #2 to #1 this week on the Urban songs chart.