Sales were kind of slow this week for urban acts. With British singing sensation Susan Boyle dominating and still holding down the #1 spot, it’s kind of hard for any other artist to stop her reign. Though they may not be highly anticipated heavy hitters like Lady Gaga or Rihanna, we had two urban comeback albums added to the roster: long time R&B sensation R. Kelly and one of New Orleans’ finest, Juvenile. Wondering what the numbers are looking like? Let’s check them out.
At #4, selling a surprising 115,000 for his first week debut, R. Kelly makes a successful comeback with “Untitled.” And that’s only a difference of 40,000 copies sold compared to 50 Cent’s first week! Maybe it’s Kelly’s old-school formula of female infatuation wordplay that still seems to work nowadays. The first single off the album, “Number One” featuring Keri Hilson, certainly resulted in the ultimate baby making club banger.
As far as Juvenile is concerned, his sales don’t seem to be so “cocky” nor so “confident.” Landing at the disturbing #46 spot, Juvenile’s “Cocky and Confident” only sold 23,000 units. It’s the follow-up to the 2006 release “Reality Check,” which landed at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200. It has been three years since we had any material from Juve. Are fans not ready? Let’s hope they’re ready before Juvenile drops the sequel to his classic 1998 “400 Degreez,” which is due in 2010.
Lady Gaga is staying tight in her #7 slot with 79,000 units sold for “Fame Monster.” Seems like people prefer the original… the “Fame Monster” EP moved from its previous #4 spot to a disappointing #15. Is nobody gaga over Gaga anymore?
Rihanna seems to not be going hard on the charts either. Dropping from her #5 position to a substandard #18, RiRi only moved 53,500, totaling 234,500 albums sold so far. Her previous singles “Russian Roulette” and “Wait Is Ova” still seem to be rubbing fans in a mixed way. Maybe once she releases the video for “Hard” with Young Jeezy, sales will begin to rise.
The Black Eyed Peas move up to the #22 position with “The E.N.D.” (Energy Never Dies), selling another 50,000 copies. Shakira dropped fifteen spots, landing at #30 with “She Wolf.” As far as Cash Money’s Baby and Jay Sean… they are nowhere to be seen on the charts this week.
However, Jay-Z still continues to find a way to stay alive on the charts landing at #39, selling 28,500 more copies. But it seems 50 Cent may be the one that needs to be put on life support. Dropping from his #21 position, Fifty barely holds on to the charts as he comes in at a heartbreaking #41.
A lot of anticipated albums dropped this week in the urban market. Check out us out next week to see where Snoop, The Clipse, and Chris Brown land. Can we get any of these acts in the Top 3?
Written by Shabazz
