Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 8/30/2009

The lone Rap act still in the Top 10 this week was California's Black Eyed Peas [click to read]. Quite distant from their Ruthless Records roots on The E.N.D. [click to read], Interscope's other big money-maker is just one week away from Rap's second platinum plaque handed out to 2009 releases. Label-mate Eminem sank to #28 with his Relapse [click to read], an album that may reach 1.5 million units sold before October.

This week's charts welcomed urban newcomers. Former Destiny's Child member Letoya Luckett [click to read] released her second solo album, Lady Love. The Capitol Records release debuted at #12, with just over 30,000 first week units sold. Ludacris [click to read] and MIMS [click to read] guest on the release. Queen Latifah's [click to read] first Rap release in 11 years debuted inside the Top 25. Released independently on her famed '90s imprint Flavor Unit, Latifah's Persona [click to read] featured an album almost entirely produced by Florida hit-makers Cool & Dre [click to read]. The other debut release came from Alternative emcee Matisyahu. The third album from the West Chester, Pennsylvania native focuses more on his Reggae influence, boasting production from Sly & Robbie.

Maxwell's Black Summer's Night slipped to #17, still holding platinum-potential.

* 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
8	Black Eyed Peas	The E.N.D.	36,000	994,000
12	Letoya Luckett	Lady Love	33,000	33,000
17	Maxwell	Black Summer's Night	27,000	668,000
19	Matisyahu	Light	22,000	23,000
25	Queen Latifah	Persona	18,000	18,000

Fabolous [click to read] fell 13 slots with Loso's Way [click to read]. With strong radio play, the Def Jam album likely passes the 200,000 mark next week. Twista's [click to read] Category F5 [click to read] continues to prove to be a success for both the Chicago veteran and EMI Records. Released independently, with the strong distribution, the effort is similar to the machinery coming with Raekwon's highly-touted Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 album coming later this month.

Hypnotize Minds' artist Lil Wyte cracked the charts just outside of the Top 100. The Memphis rapper's The Bad Influence [click to read] album boasts DJ Paul & Juicy J [click to read] production, underneath tracks largely devoted to drug use and partying. Having previously sold six-figure numbers on independent releases, Wyte may be one to watch accumulate sales over time.

Slaughterhouse [click to read] remained in the Top 150, but fell considerably for the second straight week, with their acclaimed self-titled release [click to read].

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
28	Eminem	Relapse	16,000	1,396,000
32	Fabolous	Loso's Way	15,000	193,000
87	Twista	Category F5	6,000	110,000
104	Lil Wyte	The Bad Influence	4,900	4,900
147	Slaughterhouse	Slaughterhouse	3,300	28,000