Our new entry on Charts Don't Lie this week belongs to Ace Hooooood. The rapper constantly on his grind delivered Trials & Tribulations after months of promotion, a huge hit single, "Bugatti," a listening event, among other things. And while it worked in his favor somewhat (it's his best sales to date), it's still not very much of an improvement from his last album, Blood, Sweat & Tears. Trials & Tribulations is Ace's best debut week thus far, but that's with only 34,000 units sold-- not even 10k more than his 2011 album. The album managed a #3 debut, which is respectable, however, we have a feeling he'll be pushed off rather quickly in the face of competitors who move what he debuted with weekly (and are no longer debuting). Both and MMG and We The Best crews promoted Ace's album as much as possible, so it seemed, and fans seemed to have received the LP well, so why doesn't it reflect in his sales? We all know the Florida native has had disappointing sales in the past, but it seemed like he was on the cusp of something big, especially with the single "Bugatti," and even "We Outchea." What do you think factors into Ace's low sales?
1) Jay Z— Magna Carta Holy Grail: Hov’s new album spends its second consecutive week at the #1 spot on the Billboard 200. This past week, Jay moved another 129,000 units of MCHG. This gives Jay Z the highest sales total for an LP in its second week, since Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience dropped. Hov saw a decrease in sales of 76% this week, but we doubt he’s really feeling it anyways.
2) Ace Hood— Trials & Tribulations: Ace Hood’s new effort was drummed up quite a bit, and it seemed to be very well-received by his fans, however, Ace still struggled with sales on this one—nonetheless it was his best first week and chart peak to date. The We The Best rapper’s last release in 2011 Blood, Sweat & Tears, only managed 26,000 units. He’s actually upped that number slightly with Trials & Tribulations, moving 34,000 copies opening week, debuting on the Billboard 200 at #4 (Blood, Sweat & Tears debuted at #3 though). Why do you think Ace can’t do numbers?
3) J. Cole— Born Sinner: J. Cole’s Born Sinner has already gone gold, this past week, after five weeks on shelves. It’s impressive for the North Carolina native, who managed to reach the 500k mark in sales prior to Kanye West—both of whom dropped their albums on June 18th. We all know Cole was competing with Kanye, does this mean he won? Because of new chart entries, this week J. Cole was pushed down to #7 from #3 last week. He sold another 26k though, but saw a decrease in sales of 32%.
4) Justin Timberlake—The 20/20 Experience: Justin Timberlake rose up on the charts this week. The unstoppable force that he is, he comes in at #9, after dropping to #13 last week. The artist sold 24,343 units, which is up 29% from last week’s 18k.
5) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis— The Heist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis come in at #12 this week, which is down from last week’s #10. They sold just under 20k in the past seven days, after 41 weeks of charting. Will they ever fall off?
6) Wale— The Gifted: MMG’s Wale seems unable to keep up with the numbers of his rap competitors, falling off from his #2 debut four weeks ago, the rapper is now sitting at #15 on the Billboard 200. Last week he was at #7—so he dropped 8 ranks this week. He’s down 35% in sales, moving 17,700 copies.
7) Kanye West— Yeezus: Yeezy is struggling a little, at least, in Kanye terms, to stay atop the charts. The album saw quite a drop from last week, coming in at #18, previously at #6, after 5 weeks of charting. Although the experimental album was favored by critics for the most part, it seems it’s the fans who really weren’t caring for it—or supporting it. This week Kanye moved 15, 700 units.
8) Ciara— Ciara: Future’s girlfriend saw a somewhat surprising debut at the #2, although only moving 58k (which is actually better than Ace Hood). The singer’s self-titled debut dropped almost twenty spots this week though, already falling to #20. She dropped 77% in sales, this week only moving 13, 488 copies.
9) Mac Miller— Watching Movies With The Sound Off: Mac Miller’s independent release also saw quite a drop this week, from #24 to #43. The album, which was a new direction for Mac, sold less than 10k this week, with 7,734 copies moved.
In more chart news, Kelly Rowland’s LP Talk A Good Game comes in on the charts right after Mac, at #45. Below Ms. Rowland on the Billboard 200 we find Kendrick Lamar, whose good kid, m.A.A.d city dropped below the top 50 from last week, at #52 this week. Meanwhile on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, Robin Thicke’s infectious “Blurred Lines” sits at the #1 spot for the eighth consecutive week. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us” also keep the #2 spot locked, while Jay Z’s “Holy Grail” is already at #3.