By DeVaughn Douglas
AllHipHop ChartWatch for November 4, 2009
The
Hip Hop has been sparse on the charts these last few weeks with only Jay-Z and
The Black Eyed Peas moving any numbers in the top ten. Hopefully things should start to turn around
as the big fourth quarter albums begin to drop.
Until then at least some rivalry will be able to hold the fans
attention. I’ll be honest…a rap beef
between Rick Ross and 50 Cent never really interested me. Even the beef between Fat Joe and 50 seemed
dated and unnecessary. For awhile there
I thought the Joe Budden/Raekwon incident would produce some decent tracks from
two great lyricists but all we got was youtube videos. Granted they were entertaining videos but I
would have appreciated a song or two. I’m
even starting to wonder whether Jay-Z will respond to 50 Cent’s constant poking
in the media. But Beanie Siegel….That’s
a different story. I don’t think a true
Hip Hop fan can deny that Beans can hold his own with Jay-Z (lyrically) which
means we might actually get a decent rap battle between two greats. We may get an actual mainstream battle
between two MC’s. When’s the last time
that happened?
Well
like I said earlier the charts are lacking on the Hip-Hop side. It’s like Michael Jackson came and knocked
Hip Hop out of the top 10. The late
great King of Pop holds the number one spot with the movie soundtrack This Is It. That leaves Jay-Z and The Black Eyed Peas
holding the eleventh and fifteenth spot on the countdown. The Black Eyed Peas sell another 29,000
copies of their latest album The E.N.D
while The Blueprint 3 moves a strong 40,000.
Meanwhile,
congratulations need to go out to Tech N9ne.
The Midwest MC managed to grab the number 14th spot (beating out B.E.P) by
selling 30,000 copies of his latest disc K.O.D. He was in “Dropping” last week so it’s nice
to see him crack the top fifty and do some decent numbers
Drake
falls from the 23rd to the 41st spot but still manages to
sell another 12,900 copies of his mixtape-turned-album So Far Gone. Rick Ross and Triple C's sell about 11,523. Wonder if that will make 50 Cent weep?
Sadly,
there was no Hip-Hop in the top 10 and only what is up above in the top 50. Maybe a little verbal sparring
between some Hip Hop heavyweights coupled with some late year releases will
boost the upcoming week’s sales. Let’s
move onto “Dropping”.
Dropping
This Week
First
up in “Dropping this Week” is a producer out of Switzerland. He has produced for the likes of the French
r&b duo Les Nubians, the Westcoast, underground MC Blu, and Canadian Hip
Hop group Swollen Members. Underground producer
Chief finally releases his debut album.
The Swiss beatmaker drops his debut album, Collabo Collection, which is a gathering of tracks created between
2005 and 2009. The album features some
of the previously mentioned artists as well as Tha Connection, Abstract Rude,
and John Robinson. This should have a
nice sound. If you haven’t had a chance
to hear any music from Chief then this album offers you the opportunity to
catch up.
Kentucky
Hip Hop trio return with the second installment of their album released last
March. Cunninlynguists drop Strange
Journey Volume II a new album featuring E-40, Sean Price, Blue
Sky Black Death, Bronze Nazareth, Poison Pen, Guilty Simpson and J-Zone. There is also an extended version of the
album being released that contains twelve instrumentals so if Cunninlynguist is
your type of group you probably want to pick this one up.
Next up, Gift of Gab from the
critically acclaimed duo Blackalicious, releases another solo album. Escape
2 Mars is the rapper’s second solo album and features Del The Funky
Homosapien and Brother Ali. Gift of Gab
is known for his lyrical ability so those looking to hear a complex rhyme
structure that may be lacking on their local radio should pick this one up.
Keeping up with the “Hell” theme as
shown by his debut album For The Hell Of
It, and subsequent discs Hard As Hell,
and Hell Up In The Bronx comes the
latest album from Hell Rell, Live From
Hell. The album is Hell Rell
live. At this point it’s hard to keep up
with who is in/out/feuding with/dropping out of/just an affiliate of Dip
Set. Fans of Hell Rell shouldn’t be
disappointed. I don’t know about the
rest of us but the fans should like it.
Underground Houston Rapper K-Rino
releases his latest album Solitary
Confinement. K-Rino has been rapping since ’83 and has been involved in the
Houston underground scene for a number of years. If you’re looking at hearing some wordplay
out of H-Town then this will be the album to pick up.
Next up is Atlanta duo The Yin Yang
Twins who are releasing Legendary Status:
Yin Yangs Twins Greatest Hits. Actually
I don’t know who is releasing this one because it doesn’t have “Whistle While You Twurk”, “"Say I Yi Yi", and "Wait
(The Whisper Song)" but it does have “Salt Shaker”. I guess that’s a greatest hits.
Next up are Hip
Hop pioneers Masta Ace and Ed O.G who team up to release the album Arts and Entertainment. The album features Posdanus of De La Soul, Large Professor, DJ Spinna, KRS-One, Mr.
Lif, Akrobatik and Chester French. Production is handeld by Double O of Kidz in
the Hall, M Phases, DJ Supreme One and Frank Dukes.
It’s not often that a female MC
releases an album these days. Chicago MC
by way of Atlanta Rita J releases her
debut album, Artist Workshop, on the
underground label, All Natural, Inc. The
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale graduate has worked with other artists like DJ Spinna, Digable Planets, J-Live, Jungle Brothers, Stacy
Epps, Stahhr the Femcee, and Black Spade.
Fans of Hip Hop should give her a chance and take a look at the debut
album.
That’s it for Dropping this Week so
go pick up an album or two.