This is the last week before the beginning of the fierce Holiday season, the infamous period of the year when every other music heavyweight is going to fight for a nice spot on the charts. So again, we have a very slow week with only one newcomer landing in the Top 50…
The anticipated third album from R&B singer Amerie finally landed on the charts at #46. “In Love & War” pushed 12,500 copies for its first week in stores: a small number, but with very few promotion and the first single being released several month ago in May, it is ok to say the album was not properly promoted. “Why R U” and “Heard’em All,” the two lead singles, received positive feedback and the effort should make its way up the charts provided the label intensifies the PR campaign for the project…
Besides this interesting comeback, it seems that only big sellers manage to last on the charts, while smaller artist struggle to even access to Top 50 positions.Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” continues its run in the Top 3, losing its #1 spot to country singer Carrie Underwood but still maintaining a high level of sales with 202,000 copies sold, for a total of 582,000 albums.
New York ambassador Jay-Z loses 2 spots to #13 with 37,000 units moved of the highly-praised “Blueprint III.” With a total 1,237,000 copies sold in 9 weeks, Hova is consolidating his status of rap legend and confirming that he is the one and only Greatest Rapper Alive.
The Black Eyed Peas fall 6 spots to end at #21 with 27,000 copies of their platinum album “The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)” sold. Total sales for this effort now reach 1,327,000 albums, making it one the most successful releases of the year. Their last single, “Meet Me Halfway,” currently sits at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, giving a new impulse to the album sales.
R&B diva Mariah Carey has managed to curb the sales drop she had been experiencing for the past two weeks. For her fifth week in stores, “Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel” moved another 13,000 albums at #36, bringing the total sales to a decent 305,000 records.
Award-winning singer Whitney Houston keeps the momentum alive with 13,000 album sales this week of her comeback effort “I Look To You.” Whitney ends her eleventh week on shelves at #42, with almost 800,000 records sold so far.
Noticeable absents this week: R&B crooner Ryan Leslie, whose second album for 2009 “Transition” did not manage to debut in the Top 50. Rough start for the talented singer-producer… Same thing goes for soul singer Melanie Fiona: her debut album “The Bridge” could not secure a Top 50 position despite well-crafted productions.
Let’s hope for them that the momentum will build up over the next weeks, which is quite unlikely judging from the massive high-profile releases looming ahead.
The competition will become more interesting next week with 50 Cent debuts on the charts. Will Fifty manage to grab the #1 spot? This time he is not facing anybody of his caliber…
