No notable new albums came out last week but we do see a holiday push in sales for some artists (Like Mac Miller, Beyonce, The Throne, & Drake) as well as Rihanna‘s Talk That Talk going Gold (Hi Rihanna!). But since we’re basically a Hip-Hop site and this is the first Numbers Game of the new year, I guess it’s a good as time as any to see which rappers got plaques last year. Spoiler alert: Not many rappers struck Gold or Platinum last year:
Lil’ Wayne’s The Carter IV, Jay-Z & Kanye West’s Watch The Throne, & Drake’s Take Care were the only albums to go over a million copies sold in 2011 (You may can count Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday since it actually went double Platinum in 2011).
On the Gold front, Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers, Bad Meets Evil’s Hell: The Sequel, J. Cole’s Cole World: The Sideline Story, & T.I.’s No Mercy all went over 500,000 albums sold (Though T.I.’s album No Mercy technically was released on December 7th 2010).
Overall the album that leads all other albums in all genres in sales was from my London baby mama Adele with her album 21. It sold 5.82 million copies in 2011; the biggest-selling album of any year since 2004 when Usher’s Confessions sold 7.98 million.
#2 Drake – Take Care (Last Week: #5) – 71,600 Total: 1,246,800 (Platinum) [7 Weeks]
#3 Young Jeezy – Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition (Last Week: #3) – 67,200; Total: 301,300 [2 Weeks]
#9 Rihanna – Talk That Talk (Last Week: #7) – 42,100; Total: 514,100 (Gold) [6 Weeks]
#13 Lil’ Wayne – Tha Carter IV (Last Week: #22) – 34,900; Total: 1,916,900 (Platinum) [18 Weeks]
#15 Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne (Last Week: #43) – 26,700; Total: 1,231,700 (Platinum) [21 Weeks]
#16 Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Last Week: #15) – 26,000; Total: 279,600 [4 Weeks]
#20 Mary J. Blige – My Life II: The Journey Continues (Act 1) (Last Week: #19) – 22,800; Total: 400,800 [6 Weeks]
#22 Beyonce – 4 (Last Week: #33) – 21,200; Total: 1,058,300 (Platinum) [27 Weeks]
#26 Common – The Dreamer/The Believer (Last Week: #17) – 19,100; Total: 88,100 [2 Weeks]
#35 Mac Miller – Blue Slide Park (Last Week: #69) – 16,700; Total: 253,200 [8 Weeks]
#48 Anthony Hamilton – Back To Love (Last Week: 46) – 16,000; Total: 120,200 [3 Weeks]
#49 Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans (Last Week: #49) – 13,600; Total: 1,435,900 (Platinum) [65 Weeks]
Hip-Hop/R&B album sales for the week of 12/27/11
