By DeVaughn Douglas
R.I.P. MICHAEL JACKSON
What is going on with Hip-Hop this week? Jay-Z is still mad at everyone who uses autotune (except for Lil Wayne, T-Pain, and Kanye West…the major users of autotune. They also where a lot of tight pants and colorful clothing which is also what Jay-Z hates but once again I digress.) Speaking of Jay-Z, he and The Game are about to have another lukewarm feud. (I wonder if Memphis Bleek will get involved). Speaking of The Game, he apologized to 
50 Cent for their old beef (We will see how long it lasts). Speaking of 50 Cent, he is releasing mixtapes again (Did he stop?) and dropped a new one called Forever King. All of that brings us to the artists that are still releasing music oddly linked to the recently passed King of Pop. (Rick Ross? Neverland? Really?). This, of course, brings us to the pop icon that influenced generations of music and was laid to rest yesterday.
Michael Jackson’s death shook up the whole makeup of last week’s charts and his influence can still be felt in this week’s Chartwatch – three of the top five slots are MJ’s. Anyone whose funeral can sell out the Staples Center has a weight in this industry that can not be denied. Jackson’s album, Number Ones, sells 337,000 copies this week and holds the number one spot. The latest Now disc, Now 31, takes the number two spot. Jackson’s Thriller takes the number three spot selling 165,000 units. (I’m a big fan of MJ but if I see the “Thriller” or “Billie Jean” video one more time…I mean ONE MORE TIME…I’m probably going to watch it. But I’ll complain about it later.)
Brad Paisley’s new album, American Saturday Night, grabs the number four spot. I don’t listen to country so I have no idea if it’s good or not. Well somebody is buying the album if he’s at number four. That brings us once again to Michael Jackson who holds the number five spot with The Essential Michael Jackson. That’s the last you’ll see of MJ in the top ten but it should be noted that he has three other albums in the top 50.
Rob Thomas claims the number six spot with his new album Cradlesong followed by Wilco’s self titled album.
The Black Eyed Peas fall to number seven with their astonishingly chart topping album 
The E.N.D. I like to think with the overabundance of MJ music out there right now people have come to realize what good pop music is and have reduced the buying of Perez Hilton’s nemesis. Either way it’s nice to see all parties involved in that little feud have very little exposure nowadays.
Ladies! Do you like sex? Do you like birthdays? Do you like birthday sex? Really…oh? Well, Def Jam artist Jeremih is still dropping his debut album and grabbing the number nine spot. The self titled album enters the top ten charts on the wave of his successful single “Birthday Sex”. That is followed by heavy metal’s Killswitch Engage’s self titled album at number ten. Later down the charts are last weeks debut’s Ace Hood and Maino. They came in at #26 and #32, respectively.
DROPPING THIS WEEK
So you still say Hip-Hop is dead? You’re madder at the autotune than Jay-Z. You’re still wondering why everyone is wearing tight pants and where all the good Hip Hop music went. Well guess what…it’s still here. It never actually left. You just kept listening to whatever the radio fed you (Boom Boom Pow, anyone?) until it became popular. Every week artists from all different facets of Hip Hop are releasing albums. So quit complaining about Soulja Boy making too much money and go pick up and album by some of these artists.
But you say, “I’m not shelling out $16 for an album with one song.”
When was the last time you saw an album for $16? You can get a lot of full length cd’s for 10 bucks. Plus go back and listen to some of your old records. A lot of them had one song and you don’t even listen to that one anymore. (I’m looking at you Skee-Lo).
Then you say, “I’m lazy as *#&$ and I don’t want to leave my house.”
Ummm…..Amazon, Itunes, etc. (I would just say internet but we all know you guys love to bootleg).
So give some of these new albums a try. If Alchemist isn’t Hip Hop enough for you then I don’t know what to say. Since we’re already talking about him let’s start of this week with Alchemist. Now if you haven’t had a chance to pick up one of his albums you are truly missing out. Check out some of the videos he has online and you can see dude creates some amazing music in what looks like a run-down halfway house. All jokes aside, he drops his second studio album Chemical Warfare this week featuring Eminem, Kool G Rap, Twista, Maxwell, and a whole bunch of other people.
Next we have an artist from the label founded by El-P. Definitive Jux releases the third studio album by Cage titled Depart From Me. The album has production by El-P and Aesop Rock with the bulk of it being done by Sean “F.Sean” Martin. Interesting fact: The first video from of the album was directed by Shia LaBeouf. That’s right…Transformer’s Shia LaBeouf. I’m always on the fence with Definitive Jux. You either love it or hate it. Fans of Cage or the label may want to give this one a listen.
Chicago MC by way of Los Angeles, Chali 2na, returns with his third studio album Fish Outta Water. Now I know last week we had an artist releasing an album with the same title but I sure that’s purely coincidental. The former frontman for Jurassic 5 drops a new album with features from brothers, Damien and Stephen Marley, and Beanie Man. Fans of Chali 2na, Jurassic 5, or West Coast Hip Hop should take the time to listen to this one.
A few weeks ago we showed you a new collection of music by the late, great J Dilla entitled Jay Stay Paid and now we bring you another collection called Dillanthology, vol 2. The new album features The Pharcyde, Slum Village, Busta Rhymes, and The Brand New Heavies to name a few. It’s Dilla so it’s sure not to disappoint.
At this point I’m not exactly sure who all is involved in the whole Dipset and Skull gang crews but another member, Un Kasa, is dropping an album. The Best of Un Kasa is a 2 
disc album offering…wait for it…the best of Un Kasa. It’s Dipset so if you like it then buy it. Speaking of Dipset, I saw a documentary on Jim Jones early this week that was actually pretty good. I mean really good. Good enough to make me listen to a Jim Jones album good. (Not good enough to make me listen to the whole thing but good nonetheless).
Well, that’s the Chartwatch for this week. Try to hit a store or something and pick something up.