Nothing too big transpired on the charts this week when it comes to hip-hop. That's not to say there weren't hip-hop releases-- there most definitely were, however, none could top Drake's Nothing Was The Same at #4 on the Billboard 200. And if DJ Khaled's low sales projections are correct, Khaled probably won't top Drizzy either next week. Dom Kennedy's album Get Home Safely sold over 13k opening week, which isn't too shabby, although he may be big in the West Coast, he's still more of an underground rapper at this point. Young Dro's High Times received little to no promotion, which is why it comes as no surprise that the Hustle Gang rapper sold a measly 6,000 units opening week. This seems to be one of the central problem with T.I.'s Hustle Gang signees-- they're not pushed enough, and the sales are affected. On the same day as Dro and Dom dropped (October 15), we actually had a few other rappers drop, however, they're also more on an underground tip and thus didn't chart on the Billboard 200 (including Boldy James, Devin The Dude and Ca$his). Black Milk, who was also among the October 15th releases, was able to debut on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with No Poison No Paradise at #45. See how everyone else fared on the charts this week below.
1) Drake— Nothing Was The Same: Drake, who celebrated his 27th birthday this past week, remains atop the charts with NWTS. The album has fallen beneath a few new debuts on the Billboard 200, like Pearl Jam & Paul McCartney, but remains strong nonetheless at #4, down only one spot from last week. The rapper pushed 58,000 units off shelves, with a decrease in sales of 30%. His total sales are now at 947,000, getting close to 1 million.
2) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience 2: Justin’s “2 of 2” definitely isn’t doing as well as the first. The album falls a few spots this week, from #5 to #11. The LP sold another 35,000 units, dropping in sales by 52%. His total for The 20/20 Experience 2 is now at 455,000.
3) Pusha T—My Name Is My Name: Pusha Ton dropped 10 spots this week, after debuting at #4 last week the rapper now finds himself at #14. He pushed another 20k of MNIMN off shelves this week, bringing his total sales up to 95,000.
4) Mary J. Blige— A Mary Christmas: Yup, it’s only October, but Mary J. has already released her Christmas album, A Mary Christmas. The album debuted at #23 this past week, which isn’t too shabby. Mary sold 12,456 units opening week.
5) Robin Thicke— Blurred Lines: Robin Thicke’s album remained stagnant this past week, keeping the #27 spot on the Billboard 200, after 12 weeks of charting. The singer sold around 11k, with a drop of only 3% in sales.
6) Dom Kennedy— Get Home Safely: Dom Kennedy’s West Coast affair Get Home Safely made its Billboard 200 debut this past week, after dropping on October 15th. The album debuted at #29 selling 13,778 units opening week. Dom debuted at #4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart though.
7) Jay Z— Magna Carta Holy Grail: MCHG has been charting for 15 weeks now. The album dropped ten spots since last week, now at #41. Hov sold another 8,000 units this week, bringing his total sales of the album up to 1,034,000.
8) 2 Chainz— B.O.A.T.S. II: #METime: Tity Boi’s new album sold another 7,000 units this week, coming in at #48 on the charts. That’s down from #37 last week. His total sales are now at 143,000.
9) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis—The Heist: These two are definitely making their way down the Billboard 200, but they haven’t fallen off quite yet. This week The Heist comes in at #51, selling 7,000 units this past week. Their grand tally is now 1,112,000.
10) Young Dro— High Times: Young Dro quietly dropped his new album High Times on October 15th. The album made its entrance on the Billboard 200 this week at #57. The Hustle Gang rapper only sold 6,000 units opening week, and nabbed a #13 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city actually comes in above Young Dro’s High Times this week, charting at #54 which is up five spots from last week. K. Dot’s debut sold another 7k with total sales of 1,065,000. John Legend’s Love In The Future is also still on the charts, coming in this week at #31. JT’s first The 20/20 Experience has dropped all the way to #60 after charting for 31 weeks. MMG’s Self Made 3 has really fallen off this week, coming in at #113 on the Billboard 200, and the same can be said for Danny Brown’s Old which dropped from #18 to #117. Singles-wise, Eminem's monstrous "Rap God" debuted at #1 on the Digital Songs Chart, receiving 270,000 downloads.