In the competition between the same-day release rappers Juicy J and Big Sean Juicy J appears to be taking the lead, although Sean debuted stronger than Juicy initially. Not to say they both haven't fallen quite a few spots-- they have. However Juicy J's fan base remains more persistent that Sean Don, with Stay Trippy selling another 21k at #15 and Hall Of Fame selling only 18k at #24. Will we see Juicy J remain stronger than Sean over a longer period of time? Upcoming artists to joint Charts Don't Lie are 2 Chainz and The Weeknd-- both of their sales projections were revealed this past week, and Tity Boi is surprisingly low. He's expected to sell less than Juicy J and Big Sean, with only 55k-65k projected. What happened to 2 Chainz this time around, with his debut album doing more than twice that in opening week? Despite this, will B.O.A.T.S. II: #METime stay on the charts for week after week like Based On A T.R.U. Story did? Finally, The Weeknd's Kiss Land has a respectable projection with 90-100k. Considering Abel Tesfaye is in the smaller lane of r'n'b, and his projected sales are somewhat comparable to his Trilogy sales, this shows that his supporters have remained, well, his supporters, while Tity 2 Necklace seems to have lost more than a few. Check back next week when the final numbers are in, for now, see this week's hip-hop and r'n'b entries below.
1) Tamar Braxton— Love And War: The younger sister of r’n’b singer Toni Braxton deserves a mention this week for nabbing a #2 debut on the Billboard 200 with her new r’n’b effort Love And War. She sold 114,000 copies opening week.
2) Robin Thicke— Blurred Lines: Robin Thicke drops two spots this week, down to #7 from #5. He’s still sitting atop most other r’n’b/hip-hop entries on the charts. Blurred Lines sold 56,741 units pushing his total sales towards gold certification, at 448,549 units. He only decreased in sales by 1% this week.
3) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience: Singers have the top of the charts locked down. Below Robin we find Justin who rose up to #9 this week. After 25 weeks of charting, the singer still sold 39,277 units, up in sales by 5%. JT’s total sales are over 2 mil, at 2,256,221.
4) Juicy J— Stay Trippy: A week after his album charted and Juicy J manages to get atop of Big Sean (who had originally debuted above Juicy). Stay Trippy dropped to #15 this week, from last week’s #4 debut. The Taylor Gang rapper sold 21,079 units seeing a 67% drop in sales. He’s sold 86,000 units total thus far.
5) Jay Z— Magna Carta Holy Grail: MCHG dropped to #18 this past week, four spots down from last week. The rapper sold just over 20k this week, with sales totaling 957,042.
6) Big Sean— Hall Of Fame: Sean Don is slipping on the charts already after his debut at #3. He’s dropped all the way down to #24 this week, selling only 18,000 copies this past week. His total sales are at 89,000.
7) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis— The Heist: Could these two be falling off the charts, finally? The Heist dropped to #27 this week, from #13 last week. This is the first time they’ve dropped that many spots in a long time. They sold 16,000 units this past week, with sales totaling 1,057,000.
8) Kendrick Lamar— good kid, m.A.A.d city: Kendrick’s fame continues to spread, as does his debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city. This week his album dropped to #55 from #46. The TDE rapper sold 7,000 units this week, with total sales over just over 1 million.
9) J. Cole— Born Sinner: Below Kendrick, Cole is still hanging on. Born Sinner dropped further down the charts this week, coming in at #61. After 12 weeks of charting, the Roc Nation rapper sold 6,517 units. His total sales are at 593,374.
10) Kanye West— Yeezus: Yeezy sits below his once-competitor J. Cole. Yeezus saw a spurt in sales last week, but it doesn’t seem like Kanye will be able to keep the momentum going. He’s back down the charts at #69 this week, from #38 last week. He sold 5,630 units, with a tally of 532,742 sales.
Other hip-hop notables seem to have been unable to hold onto top spots on the Billboard 200. Goodie Mob, who debuted last week at #30 drop even farther now at #77. Ten spots below Goodie Mob we find A$AP Fergenstein, with Trap Lord dropping 43 spots down to #87. Earl Sweatshirt also saw a steep drop with Doris, from #49 to #93.