Michael Jackson Music Sales Affirm King of Pop Label

As chart info is unveiled, Michael Jackson's King of Pop status is being set in stone. Here are some of the details

Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart features eight Michael Jackson albums in the top 10 with a Jackson 5 compilation filling another spot. Jackson has six out of the top 10 on the Top Digital Albums chart.

Michael Jackson has the top three albums on the Top Comprehensive Albums chart while Jackson and siblings have 25 out of 75 songs on the Hot Digital Songs chart.

Michael Jackson: Jumps in Radio Play & Album Sales, Possible Jackson Family Tour?

Not only has Michael Jackson's radio airplay jumped 1,735% but three of his albums, Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson and Thriller, are reported to have sold around 100,000 copies each last week.

A tribute/reunion tour featuring Janet Jackson and the Jackson Brothers is rumored to be in the works.

Black Eyed Peas: I Gotta Feeling CBS Promo, Most Mainstream Top 40 Hits

The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling CBS Promo

Not only is The Black Eyed Peas' new single I Gotta Feeling being used as the CBS summer promo song but they've also achieved the distinction of having the most Mainstream Top 40 chart hits of this decade with the success of Boom Boom Pow:

"With their first single from The E.N.D., "Boom Boom Pow," at #1 on the Top 40 chart for four consecutive weeks, The Black Eyed Peas have landed the most Top 40 Mainstream Chart hits this decade surpassing Backstreet Boys and Nickelback."

"Boom Boom Pow...holds the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for nine consecutive weeks. Since its release nine weeks ago, "Boom Boom Pow" has sold over 2.4 million digital downloads."

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Black Eyed Peas: Boom Boom Pow Music Video
Black Eyed Peas: I Gotta Feeling Music Video
The Black Eyed Peas: THE E.N.D. Album Art

Over at Hip Hop Press:
Image Metrics' Facial Animation Puts the "Boom, Boom, Pow"
in New Black Eyed Peas Music Video
The Black Eyed Peas Score the Most Mainstream Top 40 Chart Hits This Decade
TARGET ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BLACK EYED PEAS
The Black Eyed Peas Score Their First #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart

Alternate Charting Routes: Cracker Barrel, Indie Stores, Small Chains

Sorry to bring up Cracker Barrel but I wanted to point to a couple of ways that folks are charting while taking alternate routes.

According to a recent press release, Cracker Barrel's exclusive release of Montgomery Gentry's For Our Heroes debuted at no. 5 on the Top Country Album Chart moving 25,900 copies. They have 588 locations in 41 states.

According to Billboard, indie rockers Grizzly Bear had a no. 8 last week on the Billboard 200 album chart with Veckatimest moving 33,000 copies:

"40% of its sales came from downloads while another 24% were shifted at independent and small chain stores."

At this point none of this is revolutionary but such accomplishments are worth watching and considering. For example, if you were the first to get your cd or dvd distributed by a national or regional non-music chain that hasn't tried such a move, you could potentially expand sales while getting a lot of additional press.

Keep in mind that being early is better than being late. Nobody talks about music in Starbuck's anymore. I'm not even sure if they still carry music but it was big news just a few years back and moved a lot of cd's for those early artists before Starbuck's flooded and killed it.

Wisin y Yandel's La Revolucion: Highest Latin Debut in Last Two Years

Wisin y Yandel's La Revolucion is the highest charting Latin debut in the last two years.

Now what's the Spanish for congratulations!

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Albums: Wisin y Yandel's La Revolucion Debuts at #7
Wisin y Yandel: La Revolucion Album Cover Art
Wisin y Yandel y 50 Cent: Mujeres In The Club Music Video

We Are Hunted: Online Music Listening Chart

We Are Hunted both charts what folks are listening to online via such sources as "blogs, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, forums, P2P" and offers a listening option

Definitely an interesting and timely project.

Via TechCrunch.

Asher Roth's Asleep In The Bread Aisle #1 on iTunes

Asher Roth's Asleep In The Bread Aisle is currently the no. 1 album on iTunes.

I got the news from Moe Arora and double checked. It will be interesting to see how long he stays there. Right now the majority of the top singles are also hip hop related but Roth is not among them.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Eminem vs. Asher Roth: Skee.TV, As I Em, NY Times
Asher Roth: I Love College Music Video
Asher Roth: Lark On My Go-Kart Music Video

Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III Doing Big Numbers

The young Mr. Carter is well on his way to a huge release for Tha Carter III with first day sales topping 423k!

Looks like Lil Wayne will have the biggest sales week of the year.

Speaking of Lil Wayne, I just remembered that the first time I heard him refer to himself as the "young Carter", I thought he was saying he was the "young Kotter", as in Welcome Back!

Crank That (Soulja Boy): Over 3 Million Downloads; Souljaboytellem.com: Over 650k Sold

Soulja Boy's Crank That (Soulja Boy) has passed 3 million downloads.

If you're into numbers:
"Grammy nominated for Best Rap Song and the #1 song on the Hot 100 chart for seven weeks, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" has also sold more than 3,000,000 ringtones and its music video has been viewed an incredible 28,000,000 times on YouTube. In addition, the instructional dance video has been viewed 22,000,000 times and the video for the single "Soulja Girl" (featuring I-15) 11,000,000 times. Not surprisingly then, his website is also the #1 most viewed artist site on the Web, with more than 1,000,000 unique hits per month. His MySpace page has recorded 27,000,000 profile views and 31,000,000 audio streams."

On the album tip:
"With his debut album, Souljaboytellem.com (ColliPark Music/Interscope Records), rocketing past its gold certification -- having sold more than 658,000 copies to date -- Soulja Boy is the biggest selling new hip-hop or R&B artist of 2007."

Wait a minute!  Isn't it common knowledge that Soulja Boy is only a singles artist?

Reality.  It really messes with your fixed assumptions, don't it?

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Yahhh! Soulja Boy to Rule '08
To Understand Soulja Boy's Success Go Beyond the Web

Jim Jones' Hustler's P.O.M.E. Debuts at No. 6

Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment)

Jim Jones' Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) debuts at no. 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart and also takes the top spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200

1. NOW That's What I Call Music 23
2. Josh Groban - Awake
3. Keith Urban - Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing
4. Sugarland - Enjoy the Ride
5. Soundtrack - Hannah Montana
6. Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment)
7. Birdman & Lil Wayne - Like Father, Like Son
8. Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts
9. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
10. The Dave Matthews Band - Best of What's Around: Vol. 01

Birdman & Lil Wayne Debut at No. 3, Pitbull at No. 17

Birdman & Lil Wayne - Like Father, Like Son

Birdman & Lil Wayne's Like Father, Like Son debuted at no. 3 this week on the Billboard 200 album chart.  Apparently this is Lil Wayne's sixth appearance in the top 10, Cash Money's still a company and you know who's boss!

Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200

1. Soundtrack - Hannah Montana
2. Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
3. Birdman & Lil Wayne - Like Father, Like Son
4. John Legend - Once Again
5. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
6. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
7. The Who - Endless Wire
8. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
9. Kellie Pickler - Small Town Girl
10. Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist

Pitbull's El Mariel debuted at no. 17.

Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apple Debuts At No. 3

Lloyd Banks - Rotten Apple

Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apple debuts at no. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart:
G-Unit artist Lloyd Banks' "Rotten Apples" bows at No. 3 with 143,000. His sophomore set also manages a No. 1 entry on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts. Banks' debut, "The Hunger for More," debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in 2004.

Ludacris' Release Therapy drops to no. 10.

Top 10 Albums This Week

1. Rod Stewart - Still the Same ...
    Great American Rock Classics of Our Time
2. Evanescence - The Open Door
3. Lloyd Banks - Rotten Apples
4. Jimmy Buffett - Take the Weather With You
5. Tony Bennett - Duets: An American Classic
6. Killers - Sam's Town
7. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
8. George Strait - It Just Comes Natural
9. Hinder - Extreme Behavior
10. Ludacris - Release Therapy

Rewind: Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor Tops Rap Albums Chart, Joins Top 10 On The Billboard 200

Lupe: No. 1 Rap Album, No. 2 Hip-Hop/R&B Album, No. 8 In The Top 10

Some kind of "system failure" screwed up the most recent Nielsen SoundScan chart affecting almost all the charts including the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

That's right, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor is now no. 8 and Chingy's Hoodstar is no. 9, which is a happy surprise for those who feel that Lupe Fiasco is a key player in an emerging wave of smart yet entertaining hip hop.

Here's the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart:

1. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
2. Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways
3. Fergie - The Dutchess
4. Kenny Chesney - LIVE: Live Those Songs Again
5. John Mayer - Continuum
6. Beyonce - B'Day
7. Diana Krall - From This Moment On
8. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
9. Chingy - Hoodstar
10. Hinder - Extreme Behavior

According to a press release from Atlantic Records, passed on to me by Rizoh from The Rap Up who's been keeping me up to date on these developments, Food & Liquor also now tops the Top Rap Albums chart and is no. 2 on the Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums chart.

And that's a good thing.

Daz's So So Gangsta Debuts At No. 35

Daz - So So Gangsta

Another not so exciting week on the Billboard 200 album chart, however, Daz's So So Gangsta debuted at no. 35 with 23,000 units moved.

Top 10 On The Billboard 200

1. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
2. John Mayer - Continuum
3. Beyonce - B'Day
4. Bob Seger - Face the Promise
5. Modern Times - Bob Dylan
6. Lionel Richie - Coming Home
7. Hinder - Extreme Behavior
8. Danity Kane - Danity Kane
9. The Mars Volta - Amputechture
10. Nickelback - All the Right Reasons

Justin Timberlake's SexyBack At No. 1

Justin Timberlake's SexyBack jumps from no. 31 to no. 1 on the Hot 100 singles chart off the strength of digital downloads while Fergie's London Bridge drops to second place.  However, I doubt she's too upset having just won an MTV Video Music Award for My Humps in the Best Hip-Hop Video category (say what?!?).

1. Justin Timberlake - SexyBack
2. Fergie - London Bridge
3. Sean Paul - (When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me
    feat. Keyshia
4. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
5. Pussycat Dolls - Buttons feat. Snoop Dogg
6. Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous feat. Timbaland
7. Cassie - Me & U
8. Danity Kane - Showstopper
9. Ne-Yo - Sexy Love
10. Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober

OutKast's single Morris Brown featuring Scar & Sleepy Brown debuts at no. 95.