Wale’s “The Gifted” is #1, Where Does He Belong in the Rap Power Rankings? Posted by Nathan S. on 07/03/13 | Filed under Opinion, Wale, Sales, Rankings

It's Wednesday, which means first week sales numbers are out, and the big news is that Wale can now add "number one album" to his resume. "The Gifted" moved 158K units first week - let's start over-analyzing what that number means!

First and foremost, because I know that if I write anything less than WALE IS A SHINING BEACON OF HIP-HOP DOPENESS THAT EVEN GOD SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO LOOK UPON I'll be accused of being a hater, let's give Wale his due. In 2013 a number one album doesn't mean what it once did, but there's no fronting on 158K first week. The man's got a legitimate, unshakeable fan base that he's built, and no one can take that away from him. Nothing's given these days, he's earned it. Personally, I just wasn't feeling "The Gifted", but there are at least 158,000 people who feel differently. He more than deserves to take a victory lap.
 

So coming off a week that allowed us to directly compare rappers like no other week in recent memory, where does this place Wale? Putting aside how going head-to-head would have affected all of their sales, if "Gifted" had dropped on June 18, his first week sales would have placed him in third, after Kanye and Cole but above Mac Miller, which sounds about right. He's a second tier rapper, above the Mac Miller, ASAP Rocky, MGK and Meek Mill's of the world, but below the Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Drake and Coles. (Yep, after "Born Sinner", like it or not, Cole shoved his way into the top tier. The bottom of the top tier, but the top tier.) I don't think there's any shock there, that's where I would have put him before "The Gifted", but it does provide another heavy dose of evidence against anyone looking to discredit him.

An interesting second layer to this week's sales are the second week numbers for "Yeezus" and "Born Sinner". While sales for Ye plummeted, going from 330K first week to 65K, Cole went from 297K to 84K. For any album, the first week sales are the people who really care, second week sales are people who heard from friends that it was dope and decided to pick it up. That's why even mediocre albums can debut high, but if you want to go platinum, you need week after week of sustained sales, and that's just not going to happen if the album is sub-par. In the end, musical quality still wins.

So Kanye was able to get a number one album first week of the strength of "This is Kanye, I've got to hear what this crazy mofo has cooked up this time," but no one's turning around to their friends and saying, "You've got to hear this Kanye shit." We can get overly obsessed with first week sales, but over the long term, "Born Sinner" will most likely outsell "Yeezus", which, incredibly, will make J. Cole a better selling artist than Kanye in 2013.

The times, they are a changing. Who knows, if things keep headed in this direction, we may be looking at a world where Wale albums outsell Kanye West. Look out vets, the new generation is coming for your spot.