For one shining moment urban music was back on top - Ludacris and then Usher both hit number one within a few weeks of each other - but it looks like those glory days are now gone. While Usher's "
Raymond vs. Raymond" continues to sell reasonably well, slipping down to the number five slot this week, overall this week's charts are dominated by, well, white people, and one young white boy in particular. This week Justin Bieber let Usher really know what's up, not only surpassing him to secure the number three slot, but also locking up number 8. That's right Usher, you just got chart bitch slapped by a kid who can only dream of shaving one day. Damn you Bieber! Damn you!!!!!!!!!
Lets take a look at the top 10 urban selections on the "Digital Song Sales" for this week.
Top Digital Song Sales (w/ units sold)
1. B.o.B. - Nothing On You ft. Bruno Mars (179,310)
2. Usher - OMG ft. will.i.am (160,327)
3. B.o.B. ft. Hayley Williams - Airplanes (159,828)
4. Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart ft. Ludacris (165,433)
5 (7 overall). Rihanna - Rude Boy ( 124,139)
6 (9 overall). Jay-Z ft. Mr. Hudson - Young Forever 104,519
7 (12 overall). Jason Derulo - In My Head (84,468)
8 (13 overall) Kevin Rudolf - I Made It ft. Birdman, Jay Sean & Lil Wayne (75,605) 09.
9 (15 overall) Ludacris - My Chick Bad ft. Nicki Minaj (73,931)
10 (18 overall) Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be (64,929)
The Refined Take:
1) Quick pause to shout out Cypress Hill whose "Rise Up" album debuted this week at number 19. That's a pretty damn good performance from a group with a hardcore fan base but limited mainstream appeal. I guess stoners can get organized to at least do one thing.
2) B.o.B. motherfuckers! Not only is Bobby Ray still holding strong to the number one slot, but his latest single "Airplanes' is now at number three, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if "Airplanes" also found itself sitting on top within the next few weeks. Of course the real test will be next week when we see how "The Adventures of Bobby Ray" dows on the album side of the equation, but for now all signs point to a top ten debut.
3) Last week my colleague The Insider predicted that Usher's "OMG" single might rise as high as number five this week. How about number three? Just in case you didn't already know, people love them some will.i.am. If you really need a hit, he's the man to turn to right now.
4) Wait, what is this? A new Ke$ha song ("Your Love is My Drug") is in the top ten? Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!! Just when I thought we'd gotten rid of her, she comes back...like herpes.
5) This week's Mr. Irrelevant Award, given to the song that sits at the absolute bottom of the charts (the number 200 spot), goes to..Flo-Rida's "Low". Sweet baby jesus, that means it took "Low" exactly 129 weeks to fall out of the top 200. I hope Flo-Rida signed a good deal, because if not he's watched literally millions of dollars slip through his hands.
