Last year, one of the biggest music stories was the historic head-to-head battle between Kanye West and 50 Cent. Their fight? First-week record sales dominance. The victor? Kanye West, as if you could possibly forget. During its first week in stores last fall, Kanye's Graduation sold 957,000, a huge sum that was partly a result of the insane amount of hype surrounding his record release. These days, things are different. Our country has fallen on hard financial times, and supposedly people are spending less money on entertainment.
The best album debut so far this year was the 463,000 Mariah Carey's E=MC2 sold. It is in this climate that Lil Wayne released his long-awaited, but less-publicized-than-Graduation, album, Tha Carter III, and it is in this climate that the young rapper sold over a million records. Compare this to his previous biggest sales week, when he sold 258,000 copies of Tha Carter II in 2005. It seems that I, and many others, have sorely underestimated the power of Weezy. Record execs say one of the reasons for the huge sales is that the frequent leaks and changing release dates created a lot of hype that benefited the star. And maybe, in addition to Lil Wayne's core fans, he picked up quite a few TRLers who were swooning over "Lollipop." Oh, well. Even Kanye is impressed.
Also this week: Plies opens at No. 2, N.E.R.D. take the No. 7 spot, and Usher falls from No. 3 to No. 5.
BILLBOARD 200
Artist, Record, Peak Position, Number of Weeks on the Charts
1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III, 1, 1
2. Plies, Definition of Real, 2, 1
3. Various Artists, NOW 28, 2, 2
4. Disturbed, Indesctructible, 1, 2
5. Usher, Here I Stand, 1, 3
6. Journey, Revelation, 5, 2
7. N.E.R.D., Seeing Sounds, 7, 1
8. Alanis Morisette, Flavors of Entanglement, 8, 1
9. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges, 9, 1
10. Weezer, Weezer, 4, 2
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I'm glad Usher dropped. "I promise I'll keep the drinks coming all night long"! As if that is incentive to have sex in a club! He better get an update- most women I know buy their own drinks anyway! But then again, I don't know any groupies!
Blame Bush for the failing economy and for low grossing costs in the music biz.
Co-sign DFP ^^ Bush definitely has something do to with the stupifying of certain parts of our nation–particularly the parts where people actually bought this album–present company excluded because I am sure anyone in this community bought it as a coaster or research on the human mind after consumption of sizzurp.
How in the blue hell did Weezy manage to sell 1 million+ records? Is he really that popular? It can't be the music! Can it? What is wrong with people!? I don't remember who it was that said they blamed hipsters for this foolishness but I am inclined to agree.
I'm not going to blame Bush for this.
I blame the music industry for churning out such garbage that I'd rather waste my money elsewhere.
good point, SweetDiva. But isn't it funny how the 2000s is an era of the Bush Fascist Regime, and at the same time, we have a whole barrage of crap in Hollywood (lots of remakes and sequels), stupid celebrities famous for nothing (Paristite "The Whore" Hilton), and loads/loads/LOADS of crappy "music" crap like the Trannycat Dolls.
Why can't N.E.R.D score a bigger opening. I love those dudes.
Plies, Definition of Real, 2, 1
^^^Oh Really????
Why would anybody buy that album after seeing that youtube Bust it baby video and what sane person would name themselves this.
My Gradma told me Plies happened to people when they don't eat enough fruit and vegtables. The cure is prune juice.
Ali that was me, and a lot of hipsters really think Lil Wayne is some type of genuis.
YAY! Hatred of women for all and a minstrel show for all!
are you calling out any of the women who post on this blog who (seem to) hate men??? just saying
di-my-e, please name names.
Weezy is stuntin' on y'all! That Wayne and Jay Z track is pure fire!!!