Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 5/17/2009

As predicted, Cam'ron [click to read] did come away with the top urban spot for his long-awaited return, Crime Pays [click to read]. The Harlem emcee did not however come #1 overall, as predicted by some. The Diplomat Records CEO was outsold by Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown by approximately 74,000 units.

Neo-Soul songstress Chrisette Michele [click to read] went to the #8 spot with her Epiphany. After a 2,000 unit margin with Ciara last week, The Def Jam star's Epiphany inched out Fantasy Ride [click to read], by a margin of approximately 3,000 units in their sophomore week in stores.

Rick Ross [click to read] remained Top 10 overall. Deeper Than Rap [click to read]sold another 26,000 copies, passing the 250,000 marker.

Like Mike Jones almost a month ago, Paul Wall [click to read] gave Asylum Records a Top 15 debut with Fast Life [click to read]. The release gave the label two Top 15 chart debuts, with the Houston veteran selling approximately half of his New York label-mate Cam'ron.

* please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandeth.

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

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
3	Cam'ron	Crime Pays	43,000	43,000
8	Chrisette Michele	Epiphany	29,000	113,000
9	Rick Ross	Deeper Than Rap	26,000	270,000
10	Ciara	Fantasy Ride	26,000	107,000
15	Paul Wall	Fast Life	22,000	22,000

Gucci Mane [click to read] appeared on the charts in a Top 25 role. His former management and label, Big Cat Records, released Murder Was The Case. The un-official album of new material sold 15,000 units last week.

Jadakiss [click to read] was positioned at #34 with The Last Kiss [click to read]. The album has market analyists [click to read] and critics alike talking. The release has eclipsed the 250,000 unit mark.

Asher Roth [click to read], and his Asleep At The Bread Aisle [click to read] sold another 10,000 units, positioning him 112,000 units overall for the Philadelphia suburban rapper's debut.

Tech N9ne [click to read] held the last double-digit spot with his Sickology 101 [click to read] compilation. The Kansas City rapper has surpassed 34,000 overall units sold for his label, Strange Music's latest release.

Other Notables

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
23	Gucci Mane	Murder Was The Case	15,000	17,000
34	Jadakiss	The Last Kiss	13,000	259,000
46	Asher Roth	Asleep In The Bread Aisle	10,000	112,000
99	Tech N9ne	Sickology 101: The Study Of Being Sick	4,800	34,000
133	Slim Thug	Boss Of All Bosses	3,600	88,000