Weekly review of the Hip-Hop and R&B sales/charts.
This week we saw Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience break another record, after first topping Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV in first week sales, it became the first record in 2013 to crack one million sales, going platinum just two weeks after it dropped. On the other end of the spectrum, we saw Weezy F's album, I Am Not A Human Being II, sell a strong 217k, but it did not really live up to his past LP sales. Was JT's comeback all the excitement and hype needed to sell his 1 million copies, or did he have an added ingredient that the mainstream latched onto, which Lil Wayne was missing out on this round? Let us know what you think the cause is for the disparaging difference between either superstar's album sales in the comments.
1) Â Â Â Â Justin Timberlakeâ The 20/20 Experience: Justin Timberlake looks like heâll be occupying the #1 spot on the charts for a while. The 20/20 Experience already went platinum this past week, by selling another 317,037 copies. Thatâs on top of the 980k from opening week. Â Although the numbers are down 68% from the previous week, itâs still more than most rappers sell their first week.
2) Â Â Â Â Lil WayneâI Am Not A Human Being II: Case in point, Lil Wayne. Weezy, who is usually able to move albums by the millions, or at least the 900,000s, didnât sell enough in opening week to bump out JT from #1 on the Billboard 200. The YMCMB rapper debuted at #2 on the charts this week, moving what can be considered a solid 217k, but in comparison to past albums from the metaphor king, it seems like a flop. What do you think?
3) Â Â Â Â Macklemore & Ryan LewisâThe Heist: This pair just keeps getting bigger and bigger by the week. As we document on Charts Donât Lie, theyâve been consistently selling records, and itâs paid off, because nowThe Heist has gone goldâsurpassing the 500,000 mark in sales. Thatâs not bad for an independent fish in mainstream waters. Not only that, but with âThrift Shopâ 5x platinum, these dudes are bound to continue selling. This week they come in at #16, which is down from last week. They sold another 28,669 copies of The Heist.
4) Â Â Â Â RihannaâUnapologetic: Rih Rih drops quite a few spots on the charts this week, landing at #18. Her first-ever #1 album is sold 28,256 units over the past week.
5) Â Â Â Â Kendrick Lamarâ good kid, m.A.A.d city: Kendrick Lamarâs debut album remains within the top 50 on the charts, but barely. The rapper dropped almost twenty spots from last week, and comes in at #4 this week. Nonetheless, he sold similar amounts to last week, with around 14k copies moved.
A$AP Rocky and Alicia Keys, whom weâve seen on Charts Donât Lie frequently in the past, didnât quite make it this week. Mrs. AK is sitting right atop of Rocky on the Billboard 200 though, with the #62 spot and Rocky nabbing #63. They both dropped quite a bit from the previous week, so weâll have to wait and see if itâs a long descent on the charts for them from now on.