Album Sales Week Of 7/17/2012 (Nas, Matisyahu, KB & More)

12 years ago view-show 1,292,544

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s no secret that Nas was projected to hit the number 1 spot on the Billboard 200 this week, and he did just that by selling close to 150k units of his first solo album since 2008’s Untitled.  Life is indeed good for the Queensbridge native, as the album is now considered both a critical and commercial success.  While “Summer On Smash” probably won’t receive its desired rotation in the club (or in most Nas fans’ iTunes), Life Is Good has received its fair share of praise and has proven that Nas still has it.

Matisyahu returns to the charts with his first studio album in three years, Spark Seekers.  The album is also the first release in his career to not appear on JDub Records.  Spark Seekers has received acclaim from various critics and actually features Shyne on two tracks.  In other religious rap news, KB, an artist on Reach Records, released his latest project, Weight & Glory, which has sold 9700 to date.  KB has been featured on tracks with fellow Reach Records artist Lecrae in the past and has developed quite a fan base in his subgenre.

Other notable releases came from The Alchemist and Public Enemy both of whom dropped their respective albums independently.  Based on the numbers, it’s safe to say that a majority of Public Enemy’s diehard fans stopped supporting after Apocalypse 91, but it’s good to see they’re still doing it after all these years.  It may not have helped their cause that the album was released in digital format only, as many of their listeners are probably more accustomed to purchasing physical copies of their albums.  ALC’s Russian Roulette is experimental to say the least…but not in the same vein of the Gangrene projects, which I’m a big fan of.  I don’t think I’m the only one that wants to hear some more of this Alchemist these days.

 

Nas “Life Is Good” – 149,210 (46% digital)  [read review]

Matisayhu “Spark Seeker” – 16,505 (74% digital)

KB “Weight & Glory” – 9,718  (90% digital)

Public Enemy “Most Of My Heroes Still Don’t Appear On Stamps”  – 984 (100% digital)

The Alchemist “Russian Roulette”  – 929 (83% digital)