Hip Hop Single Sales: Rae Sremmurd, The Weeknd & Bruno Mars

This week on the R&B/Hip Hop single sales chart, Rae Sremmurd remains at #1 for “Black Beatles” while The Weeknd jumps back to #2 for his single “Starboy.” Elsewhere this week, MGK jumps four places to #4 for “Bad Things” and lastly, G-Eazy’s “Bone Marrow” debuts at #10 after selling 14,045 units.
Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” Stays At #1
Rae Sremmurd’s popular single “Black Beatles” remains at #1 this week, selling 82,719 units during the seven days leading to December 1. The cut has sold a total of 653,388 units since its official release onto the charts 16 weeks ago.
The Weeknd’s “Starboy” Climbs
The Weeknd’s hit single “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, jumps one place to #2 this week, selling 53,414 units during the sales cycle. This is also the debut week for his Starboy album, where it reached the #1 spot.
Bruno Mars Slips With “24K Magic”
Due to a 41% decrease in week-on-week sales, Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic,” the lead single off his recently released album of the same name , slips one place to #3 this week. The cut sold 46,394 units.
The Top 10 R&B/Hip Hop Single Sales For Week Ending 12/01/2016
#1. Rae Sremmurd – “Black Beatles” – 82,719 (653,388)
#2. The Weeknd f. Daft Punk – “Starboy” – 53,414 (794,113)
#3. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic” – 46,394 (531,500)
#4. Machine Gun Kelly f. Camila Cabello – “Bad Things” – 40,163 (136,419)
#5. Drake – “Fake Love” – 35,711 (222,595)
#6. D.R.A.M. f. Lil Yachty – “BROCCOLI” – 26,826 (834,938)
#7. Rihanna – “Love On The Brain” – 23,153 (270,506)
#8. Amine – “Caroline” – 20,829 (251,653)
#9. Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall – “Juju On That Beat (TZ Anthem)” – 20,048 (324,200)
#10. G-Eazy – “Bone Marrow” – 14,045 (14,045)

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Here's Why Ab-Soul Went After Jay Electronica On "RAW (Backwards)"

Ab-Soul wasted no time on DWTW before laying into Jay Electronica on the
album’s opener “RAW (Backwards).”
This weekend, he sat down with Complex in order to explain where the bars came from and why he decided to go after Jay.
“You figure I’m a rapper’s rapper so when I see how Jay Electronica made some remarks that bothered me a lot, I told Kendrick immediately,” he said — referring to a previous incident where Jay called Kendrick Lamar his “son.” “You know, [Kendrick] was about to go and get his Grammys. He was Grammy-nominated. It was a big time for us all, and for him to come out and do it at that time, it really rubbed me the wrong way, so I spoke on it immediately.”
“RAW” wasn’t the Carson rapper’s first shots at Jay as he took some jabs at a concert this summer after the New Orleans MC seemingly dissed K.Dot on his “ Curse of Mayweather” single.
“I said what I said the same reason why he said what he said,” Soulo continued about his lyrical attacks.
But Ab-Soul did make it clear that it was “all peace” and called Jay the “Black God” before quoting legendary battle rapper Loaded Lux in such a way that made it seem as though the whole thing is just a sport: “You know what we came to do, you know who they came to see… It ain’t so much about my opponent as the look Ima go with.”
The offending lines on “RAW,” which are pretty clearly a defense of Soulo’s label-mate Kendrick Lamar, go like this:
“I was like a swami of Jay Electronica until he figured Dizzle wouldn’t admit that he would body him for a milli
I told Kenny keep quiet, I’ma get him/ We don’t need dirt on your hands getting the key to the city ya feel me
Hurts when your OG, who is supposed to be a G-O-D/ Is standing next to King Kunta feeling like Toby
Moos what I gotta do boy? I’m just waiting on your cue to take him to ScHoolboy!”

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Hip Hop Album Sales: "The Hamilton Mixtape" Steals The Show On Billboard 200 Chart

The Hamilton musical continues to make history as The Hamilton Mixtape makes its way to the top of Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart. Childish Gambino’s funk-infused Awaken, My Love! lands in the Top 10 of the list and The Weeknd has a solid second week for Starboy.
“The Hamilton Mixtape” Lands At #1
Lin Manuel-Miranda carries the success of his Broadway musical to the album charts as The Hamilton Mixtape lands at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200. The project sold nearly 187,000 units its first week with more than 168,000 album sales and 21 million streams. The Hamilton Mixtape received a 4.5 rating on HipHopDX with reviewer Aaron McKrell saying “No matter how diverse, the production always fits because it underscores the narrative, whether it’s the wistful piano keys of ‘Dear Theodosia’ or the subdued melancholy of ‘Burn.’ Andra Day’s searing vocals and telling narratives on the latter make the song one of the most outstanding on a project full of gems.”
Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” Debuts At #5
Childish Gambino’s much-anticipated Awaken, My Love! charts at #5 in its first week. The project, which broke away from the Atlanta rapper’s typical sound, sold more than 101,000 equivalent album units with 41.5 million streams. This is Gambino’s fourth project and highest chart position on the Billboard 200. He landed at #7 with Because the Internet in 2013.
The Weeknd Stays Strong In Second Week Of “Starboy”
After having one of the biggest debuts of the year, The Weeknd’s Starboy sold six digits yet again with nearly 150,000 equivalent album units in this sales cycle. It was the most-streamed project of the week with 124 million plays. In its first week, all 18 tracks of the album appeared on the Hot 100 chart.
Top 10 Billboard Top 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 12/08/2016
Note: The first number below is this week’s “total album equivalent units” count, an intersection of album sales, single sales, and streams implemented by Billboard’s new rating system. A pure album sales figure is available in bold in parenthesis and information about each album’s streaming count is available in brackets.
#1 Various Artists — The Hamilton Mixtape — 186,995 (168,967) [21,079,880]
#2 The Weeknd — Starboy — 150,756 (54,356) [124,148,499]
#5 Childish Gambino — Awaken, My Love! — 101,338 (71,860) [41,539,763]
#6 Bruno Mars — 24K Magic — 58,144 (37,705) [19,987,899]
#14 John Legend — Darkness & Light — 38,928 (26,309) [12,556,783]
#17 Drake – VIEWS – 29,840 (5,416) [33,034,820]
#22 Rae Sremmurd — SremmLife 2 — 24,929 (2,069) [22,606,582]
#25 Various Artists – Suicide Squad: The Album – 21,390 (9,578) [11,001,051]
#28 Mariah Carey — Merry Christmas — 19,533 (9,340) [9,861,745]
#29 Rihanna – ANTI – 19,529 (3,585) [17,354,287]

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New J. Cole Album "4 Your Eyez Only" Coming December 9

Good news for J. Cole fans today, as it seems they’ll have a new album from the Dreamville boss to devour by December 9.
iTunes posted a pre-order for a new project, titled 4 Your Eyez Only , in its store. Details are scant, although the write-up describes the project as: “The rapper’s highly anticipated fourth studio album.” It appears to have 10 songs on it and the release date is listed as December 9, which would mark to the day the two-year anniversary of the release of J. Cole’s last studio album, “ 2014 Forest Hills Drive .”
Cole, an artist on Jay Z’s Roc Nation, has bordered on reclusive in 2016, even telling the audience at The Meadows Music & Arts Festival in October that he was talking a long hiatus from playing shows.
With the project on the calendar now, it’s inevitable that we’ll start seeing some singles and videos soon.
Will the album go platinum ? WILL IT HAVE NO FEATURES? Only time will tell.

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Tupac & Biggie Murder Drama To Hit The Silver Screen On "Unsolved"

While fans are getting impatient waiting for the Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me to drop, USA Network has announced it will be releasing a true crime drama about the deaths of ‘Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.
The deaths of Shakur and Biggie have been the subject of many books, dramas and documentaries. The latest take on the deaths of two of Hip Hop’s finest-ever artists will take the form of a scripted true crime story called Unsolved.
The Hollywood Reporter has shared that USA Network has picked up the pilot and that the show will form part of the network’s 2016-2017 slate, suggesting that the series will drop sometime within the next 12 months.
According to the publication, the show will focus on the work of LAPD Detective Greg Kading who led several investigations into the two high-profile murders. He also authored the book Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations, which was turned into a documentary of the same name. Kading will serve as a consultant and co-executive producer on Unsolved.
The project has some of television’s heavy-hitters on board: Suits writer Kyle Long is attached to write the pilot episode and Anthony Hemingway will direct — meaning that fans of his work on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story can hopefully expect a similar caliber of story-telling.
There’s no release date set for Unsolved yet, but at this rate, it could definitely hit screens before All Eyez On Me does.

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Wale Sued For Skipping Show And Keeping $25,000

Wale is being sued for allegedly skipping out on a performance in New York over the summer, according to a new lawsuit filed against the rapper.
According to TMZ.com, Wale was hired by Upfront and Personal Global, the promoters who paid $25,000 upfront to perform.
The promoters claim Wale signed a contract and received two wire payments of $12,500, but the rapper was AWOL the day of the show.
The promoters claim to make matters worse, Wale never gave an explanation as to why he ditched the performance.
The rapper is being sued for $25,000 plus interest .

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Hip Hop Week In Review: Soulja Boy, Meek Mill & Jeezy

Soulja Boy flexed his social media power to make this week’s top headlines. Meanwhile, Meek Mill and Jeezy both released successful projects, but made headlines outside of the music as well.
Soulja Boy Comes At Lil Yachty
Soulja Boy ignited a brief beef with Lil Yachty when the 19-year-old MC came at him for posting pictures of himself with India Love, claiming her as his shawty. Except India told the Love and Hip Hop star that she had never heard of the young gun. Soulja Boy ripped Lil Yachty for his claims and his groupie behavior towards him. But then Soulja calmed down and said he was just buggin because he didn’t have weed.
Oh, and he claimed that he bought a $6 million penthouse that people said was just an Airbnb rental. But he insists he’s not just Instagram flexin’.
Meek Mill Gives Insight Into Drake Beef
Meek Mill’s much-awaited Dreamchasers 4 finally dropped last week. For the most part, the internet loved it even though it didn’t have a “Back to Back” remix as was teased. During his press runs for the project, the Philly rapper explained
why it took him so long to come back to the scathing diss from Drake. As the beef continues, look out for the sales reports Monday where DC4 is looking like it will beat out Drizzy’s VIEWS after the Toronto superstar set multiple records with his LP.
Jeezy Unleashes “Trap or Die 3”
Last week was a busy one on the music side of things with Jeezy dropping his Trap or Die 3 as well. The project features The Snowman going back to his origins after switching it up for the semi-conscious Church in These Streets . HipHopDX gave Trap or Die 3 a 3.3 rating for being classic Jeezy yet not pushing boundaries.
Jeezy took some time to give some insight into Lil Wayne’s controversial comments disassociating himself from Black Lives Matter. Stopping short of defending Weezy , the Atlanta MC said that the Young Money boss lives on an island that has isolated him from everyday issues since he was a child.
DXclusives: Zaytoven & Mickey Factz
Zaytoven shared the creative process for producing Drake and Future’s “Used To This” single. The megaproducer will look to close out 2016 strong with more work with Future and Gucci Mane.
“When Gucci got out and we were all together taking pictures, the first thing Drake said to me when I saw him was that he’d just rapped on one of my beats with Future, which makes this collab even more special,” he said. “I think that’s why I’ve remained in this industry for so long because it’s so exciting and I love it. You never know what song’s gonna take off and when or who’s gonna jump on it. It keeps me creative and on my toes.”
Mickey Factz explained his musical journey from the mixtape circuit to finally releasing his debut album, The Achievement: circa ’82 . He reflected on the achievement of being on XXL’s 2009 Freshman list and shares how the award has evolved .
“I think these days it’s a shock factor than when we were coming up,” he tells senior features writer Ural Garrett. “It’s more about putting these guys on the cover knowing it’s going to cause a reaction and conversation as opposed to people knowing that these people are here with various styles that’s authentic to what they’re doing or trying to put out there.”

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Jay Z's "Reasonable Doubt" Lands Pop-Up Shop For 20th Anniversary

A pop-up shop/exhibition is one way that Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt album will be celebrated on its 20th anniversary.

The pop-up shop, a partnership between Kareem ‘Biggs’ Burke and Fancy.com, will be held from October 20-23 at 347 West Broadway in Manhattan.

Fans eager to immerse themselves in the Reasonable Doubt pop-up experience can buy tickets at Roc96.com. Tickets to the pop-up shop are available for $50 and $100, and come with a shopping credit equal to the amount the ticket was purchased for.

Thanks to the addition of a replica of the Studio B Control Room from D&D Studios, which will boast original studio equipment, the pop-up shop will give attendees a sense of what it was like as Jay Z recorded his debut album with help from DJ Premier.

D&D Studios, which was purchased by DJ Premier, closed its doors last year.

Reasonable Doubt, which served as Hov’s formal introduction to the world, dropped on June 25, 1996. The album featured guest appearances from Memphis Bleek, Foxy Brown, Mary J. Blige, and Biggie.

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