This Week in Hip-Hop Sales: Kanye Debuts at #1, Nicki’s Right Behind

This week marked the mostly highly anticipated sales report since the world was hyperventilating over Drizzy's numbers, and the results are pretty much what we expected. Kanye debuted strongly, selling almost exactly 500,000 copies of his new school classic "Dark Twisted Fantasy". I'm sure it's not what Yeezy hoped for, but frankly, given the Taylor Swift backlash/leaks/etc. it's about as good as it was going to get. As for the other major release, Josh Groban's "Illuminations" came in at number 12. Oh, you thought I was talking about Nicki? In that case, "Pink Friday" also debuted well, coming in second with 375,000 copies. As always though, it will be the second week that really matters. Remember, Waka's album did well the first week, then plummeted because after his hardcore fan base had bought the album, there was no one else. Will Nicki suffer the same fate, or does she have a wide enough appeal to stay strong? We'll find out next week.

Top Digital Urban Song Sales (w/ units sold)

1 (4th overall). Black Eye Peas - Time (179786)
2. (5th overall) Rihanna - What's My Name (164825)
3 (6th overall). Bruno Mars - Grenade (163743)
4 (7th overall). Rihanna - Only Girl in the World (127155)
5 (8th overall). Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are (126415)
6 (9th overall). Far East Movement - Like a G6 (120125)
7 (10th overall). Cee-Lo - Fuck You (113956)
8 (11th overall). Nicki Minaj ft. Trey Songz - Bottoms Up (111725)
9 (12th overall). Nelly - Just a Dream (105463)
10 (15th overall). Wiz Khalifa - Black and Yellow (81521)

The Refined Take:

1) Sitting at number 6 isn't bad for Rihanna, especially considering the other super mega albums that got release last week, but with two top ten singles you'd think she'd be doing better. Looks like people just aren't as interested in hearing a full album from the world's hottest Raggedy Anne. (Weren't we just talking about this?)

2) On the flip side, I have to say I'm surprised to see Ne-Yo's "Libra Scale" at the number nine slot. None of the album's songs have caught on, and all of Def Jam's promotional budget was spent on Kanye's album. If I'm Ne-Yo I'm pissed - if they had really pushed it, this could have been a top three album.

3) In related news, Lloyd Banks "Hunger for More 2" sold about 50,00 to land at number 26. That's a long way from the first, "Hunger for More", which went #1. .

4) Moving even further down, Curren$y's "PIlot Talk 2" didn't even crack 20,000 copies its first week. Note to self: stoners are a bad demographic to rely on.

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..Kanye West's "Lost in the World". Huh, I guess they were actually booing him because no one likes that song.