Hip Hop Album Sales: Week Ending 2/18/2007

It seems that the Grammy awards are having a large affect on record sales, particularly in Hip Hop. After a small boost last week to #65, Ludacris jumps ahead 17 spots with Release Theraby pulling in another 22k (1 million overall). Gnarls Barkely benefited even more, jumping an astounding 77 spots to #44 after 41 weeks on the charts. The duo’s album, St. Elsewwhere brought in 26k this week, putting them at 1.2 million sold overall.

Things aren’t going so well for some of rap’s more established artists, as Eminem and his Shady crew slip another 12 spots to #60. To date, Eminem Presents: The Re-Up has sold 873k, selling 18k this week. Nas is right beneath Em at #62, a 9 position drop from last week. His album, Hip Hop Is Dead seems to be losing steam fast, as the Queensbridge rapper brings in 17k. Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come is in a similar position, coming in at the #67 spot, selling only 16k this week.

The news is better for the soulful side of hip hop, as Mary J. Blige puts not one, but two albums in the top 25. After 61 weeks on the charts, jumping from #57 to #21 is Mary’s Grammy award-winning Breakthrough, selling 43k (2.8 million to date). Mary’s good fortune does not stop there, asReflections: A Retrospective moves up 13 spots toe #24, selling 39k.

Akon has finally slipped out of the top 10 as the singer’s album Konvicted drops 7 spots to #11, selling 69k his week, bringing his total to 1.5 million. On the other hand, things just keep getting better for Corinne Bailey Rae, as the singer’s self-titled album sells an incredible 118k this week, in her 35^th week on the charts. Having achieved platinum status last week, Ms. Rae brings her total to 1.1 million sold overall.