Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 1/4/09

There was very little movement on the charts in the week after the holidays. Few new releases, and a 50% decrease in most sales allowed the biggest winners of 2008 to ease into their 2009 run. For another week, Taylor Swift's Fearless reigned supreme yet again. The Country star was one of the few staple positions in R&B took the top of the charts. Beyonce held tight to her #2 spot with I Am...Sasha Fierce [click to read].

Kanye West's 808's & Heartbreak [click to read] has gained momentum in an similar week to last, from not Top 10 to Top 5. The album, received to varying reviews, made the million mark this week.

Keyshia Cole's A Different Me [click to read] got a gold plaque in three weeks out. Jamie Foxx [click to read] followed two positions after, with his Intuition [click to read] album fell a simple six spots from its debut week. Akon [click to read] passed up T.I. for the final of the Top 5 urban artists, with Freedom [click to read] coming in at #11 from the one-time platinum superstar.

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

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
2	Beyonce	I Am...Sasha Fierce	89,607	1,535,791
3	Kanye West	808's & Heartbreak	70,932	1,094,859
7	Keyshia Cole	A Different Me	53,627	502,218
8	Jamie Foxx	Intuition	44,638	414,506
11	Akon	Freedom	77,632	350,254

Lil Wayne [click to read] has climbed in the dormant release schedule. Tha Carter III [click to read] trudges towards three million sold in the States, with present projections making that mark possible by February. Plies [click to read] fell 22 spaces with his third major label full length in two years. Da REAList [click to read] was followed by Common's [click to read] Universal Mind Control [click to read], despite many mixed reviews.

Meanwhile, Scarface [click to read] remains strong with his Emeritus [click to read], his reported last album from the onetime platinum rapper. Lil Wayne remains the only rapper with two albums on the chart, as DJ Drama and Aphilliates Music Group released a retail version of Dedication 3 [click to listen], that sold just under 10,000 units last week, gaining ground from extensively from its appearance a week earlier.

Other Notables

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
19	Lil Wayne	Tha Carter III	25,992	2,900,412
20	Plies	Da REAList	24,747	192,128
40	Common	Universal Mind Control	17,315	166,432
118	Scarface	Emeritus	5,939	85,410
137	DJ Drama & Lil Wayne	Dedication 3	5,300	23,080