Hip Hop Album Sales: Week Ending 11/26/2006

The most anticipated album of the year has finally been released. The question is..."How much would Jay-Z sell." And the answer is 680k first week! Kingdom Come crushed the competition this week and became this year's highest selling Hip Hop album in its first week, beating out T.I.'s King by almost double.

The high sales figures would not come without detractors. Although the album demolished everything in its path, it did not do the expected 800-850k that some predicted after flying off the shelves in the first couple of days of release. Some have said that it is because the album itself hasnt lived up to expectations and has been panned by many critics in the industry which could have resulted in the album losing steam going into the weekend. But it could be because of Thanksgiving leaving stores across the country closed so no sales could be recorded. Regardless, the album has the third highest opening week overall (behind Justin Timberlakes Future sex/Love Sounds 711k and Rascal Flatts Me and My Gangs 714k). So is the album a success or a failure? Well let you argue over that one

You cant forget about Snoop Dogg who also did very high numbers in his first week. Blue Carpet Treatment clocked in at an extremely high figure of 254k in its first week but was only good enough for #5 on the charts. Any other week Snoop would have easily coasted to #1, but because of Jay-Z, Daughtry (303k), Now 23 (289k in week 3) and The Beatles Love (271k) Big Snoop Dogg will just have to be happy with #5.

Tupacs latest shows that the late rapper still has staying power on the charts. Pacs Life moved just under 160k to open up at #9 on the charts this week.

So how did Game do in his second week? We all remember Game saying that his second week could possibly do more than Jay-Zs first, but in actuality both weeks combined couldnt beat out Jays huge debut on the charts. Doctors Advocate is still moving impressive numbers with another 134k sold this week (#13 on the charts) putting his total at 493k. Although it falls short of Jays 680k, it still proves that Game doesnt need 50 Cent to rake in big numbers.

Elsewhere on the charts, Akons Konvicted actually ended up outselling Game in his second week. Moving 163k this week (448k overall) is good enough to land Akon at #8 this week and should hit gold status by next week. Beyonce is building momentum again in her 12^th week on the charts. BDay moved an astounding 173k (just under 1.4 million overall) which was good enough for #6 on the charts. Jim Jones Hustlers P.O.M.E. continues to do well independently. This week the album sold 32k in its 3^rd week (#49 overall) putting the overall total at 182k.

Next week well find out how well The Clipse managed to do amongst all the setbacks and label problems.