Young Jeezy bumped a single slot in a week with his junior effort Recession [click to read] selling 89,941 in its second week. One of the new faces of Def Jam (along with Rick Ross) outsold one of the label's reasons for existence - LL Cool J, in his opening week with Exit 13 [click to read]. The rapper of over 23 years cracked the charts just above the 10 spot, selling 43,645 units in its first week, of an album given less than stellar critical reviews. One of LL's champion advocates, The Game [click to read] takes #7 with LAX [click to read] selling 49,241, nearly half of last week's numbers, but remaining the top-performing Interscope/Geffen/A&M rap artist - with Eminem and Dr. Dre returns forever in the mix.

After reigning the charts for weeks, Lil Wayne [click to read] stands between The Game and LL Cool J, at #8 with his Tha Carter III [click to read], selling 47,345 units. Lastly, rounding out the top rap-related showings, the Gym Class Heroes [click to read] reminded fans that they can still bully the charts on the playground, with their most recent major label showing, Quilt, doing 32,195 , placing them at #14.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Another Interscope artist, Kardinal [click to read] makes his long-awaited return, after success over five years ago. His Akon-touted Not 4 Sale [click to read], backed by hit "Dangerous," entered the Top 40 at its bookend, selling 11,869 copies. Ice Cube [click to read] comes in next, at #41 with 11,770 copies sold of Raw Footage [click to read]. Nas jumps at bit to the #64 position with 7,758 copies of his Untitled [click to read] album sold this week, while Slim Thug's supergroup Boss Hogg Outlawz debut their sophomore album, Back By Blockular Demand remains Koch's premier rap album of the moment,at #178 with 3,232 copies sold. In related news, it appears as though Plies [click to read] will reach gold status with his sophomore album Definition of Real [click to read] this week, as the work sits less than 3,500 units away from the coveted 500,000 mark.

Other Notables