This week we really saw the effects of Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Control" transfer over to the charts. The rapper's debut album, which officially went platinum this past week, has been slowly creeping back up the charts, something we've been seeing on Charts Don't Lie over the past weeks. Rather than jumping the usual few places this week though, K. Dot leaped 17 spots into the top 50 of the Billboard 200-- now at #36. That gave him a 22% increase in sales, undoubtedly due to the over-the-top media frenzy surrounding his bars. This week we also see "Love & Hip-Hop star" K. Michelle enter the charts for the first time, with her debut album. She definitely picked the right day to drop, proving how timing is everything. If she had dropped a little bit earlier or a little bit later she would have seen a lot of strong competition, which could have affected her placement on the charts-- she managed to debut at #2 (Earl Sweatshirt, A$AP Ferg, Big Sean and Juicy J are just some of the rappers with new/upcoming releases).
1) K. Michelle— Rebellious Soul: K. Michelle of reality T.V. fame, dropped her new album Rebellious Soul on August 13th. It was a good time to drop, as were in between the releases of some big hip-hop albums, thus she was able to manage a solid debut at #2 on the Billboard 200, moving 72,000 copies of her debut album.
2) Robin Thicke— Blurred Lines: Singer Robin Thicke’s first-ever #1 album continues to do well, dropping one spot from last week, now sitting at #4 on the charts. Thicke sold another 46,000 copies of Blurred Lines.
3) Jay Z— Magna Carta Holy Grail: HOV is still doing strong with MCHG. The album is doing a slow creep down the charts, dropping from #4 to #6 this past week. After charting for six weeks, he still managed to move around 37,260 units—although that’s a drop in sales of 22%.
4) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis— The Heist: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ accidental quest for world domination with their single “Thrift Shop” continues, as do the sales for their album The Heist. This week the duo finds themselves up (again!), rising three spots from last week. At #14 on the Billboard 200, the two sold 15,814 records over the past week, increasing their sales from last week by 4%.
5) Justin Timberlake— The 20/20 Experience: Justin Timberlake, who recently unveiled the tracklist for the second installment of The 20/20 Experience, isn’t having any problems selling the first one. The artist also rose up on the charts this week, coming in at #17 from last week’s #20. JT sold another 15,396 units, seeing an increase in sales of 12%.
6) J. Cole— Born Sinner: The Cole World rapper is continuing to promote singles off Born Sinner, and hoping for a huge radio hit with “Crooked Smile” following in Macklemore’s footsteps. If “Crooked Smile” takes off like J. Cole hopes, his album will undoubtedly see a big increase in sales. For now, the rapper comes in at #25, down from #22. He sold just under 12k units, which is a decrease of 14% in sales.
7) Tech N9ne— Something Else: The independent rapper hasn’t done too badly on the charts this go round, however, he may not be able to keep up with major label competition. This week Something Else saw quite a drop, from #14 to #33 on the Billboard 200. Tech Ninna still sold 10,542 copies.
8) Kendrick Lamar— good kid, m.A.A.d city: Kendrick Lamar’s album is flying back up the charts since the release of his extremely-talked about verse on “Control.” With press in all sorts of media outlets, the rapper undoubtedly found new fans and new listeners—who have gone on to purchase his major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city. This week he rises all the way from #52 to #36. GKMC sold less than 10,000 copies, but saw a 22% increase in sales.
9) Wale— The Gifted: The Gifted emcee’s talents aren’t necessarily translating into sales. This week Wale comes in below Kendrick (although he did get a Kendrick name-drop), at #42, having been sitting exactly where Kendrick is this week, last week (#36). Wale sold around 7,500 copies of his album.
In other charts news, Kanye West's Yeezus has dropped off the top 50 of the charts, now sitting at #61, having dropped twenty spots this week from last week's 41. That's quite a drop, and he's only been charting for 9 weeks. Will his new single "Bound 2" boost his album sales? Even further below Yeezy is the YMCMB compilation Rich Gang. This week the album is at #82, after just 4 weeks of charting. Funnily enough, it's right above Lil Wayne's effort I Am Not A Human Being II, which comes in at #83, and he's been on the charts for 21 weeks.
