Hip Hop Album Sales: Playboi Carti’s "Die Lit" Makes Solid Billboard 200 Debut

Hip Hop is once again a strong presence on the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending May 17. Post Malone’s Beerbongs Bentleys remains in the #1 spot and Playboi Carti’s Die Lit made its debut at #3.

Tee Grizzley also made his grand entrance at #10 with his Activated album, while J. Cole’s KOD dropped 22 percent to land at #6.

Elsewhere on the chart, XXXTENTACION’s ? project has stayed in the Top 15 even with the 10 percent drop in sales and Spotify’s new Hate Content Hateful Conduct policy, which resulted in the removal of X’s music from Spotify-curated playlists.

It’s Lit

issa saturday

A post shared by @ playboicarti on Jul 1, 2017 at 9:41am PDT

Playboi Carti’s new project Die Lit hit the chart running with 60,904 total album equivalent units sold (4,752 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 82,113,921) to settle at #3, even as a surprise release.

It serves as the follow-up to 2017’s self-titled mixtape, which peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200. In that project’s first week sales, Carti moved roughly 28,000 units thanks in part to the success of “Magnolia.”

Again Again

thank you @billboard

A post shared by Posty (@postmalone) on May 20, 2018 at 7:13pm PDT

Post Malone’s Beerbongs Bentleys continues to dominate the chart for its third week with 147,343 total album equivalent units sold (18,053 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 183,141,122). The Texas-bred rapper’s debut, 2016’s Stoney, also remains on the chart. Despite the five percent dip in sales, it still landed at #13.

Beerbongs Bentleys went platinum almost immediately upon its release due to the success of the project’s lead singles, “Rockstar” featuring 21 Savage and “Psycho” featuring Ty Dolla $ign. Since then, it’s broken several records, including one Billboard record previously held by The Beatles for 54 years.

GRRRR

If it wasn’t a “Dreams Nightmares” it wouldn’t be a “First Day Out” ?

A post shared by ACTIVATED?????OTW!! (@tee_grizzley) on May 12, 2018 at 4:57pm PDT

Rising Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley made his chart debut for Activatedhis inaugural studio album. The project landed at #10 with 32,883 total album equivalent units sold (5,518 in pure album sales and a streaming count of 39,345,915).

Activated follows 2017’s My Moment, which peaked at #44 on the Billboard 200 and #22 on the Top RB/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Top 10 Billboard 200 Rap RB Albums For The Week Ending 05/17/2018

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. Post Malone — Beerbongs Bentleys — #1 — 147,343 (18,053) [183,141,122]
  2. Playboi Carti – Die Lit — #3 — 60,904 (4,752) [82,113,921]
  3. J. Cole — KOD — #6 — 53,269 (9,738) [63,401,112]
  4. Cardi B — Invasion Of Privacy — #7 — 52,697 (4,245) [66,748,154]
  5. Various Artists — Black Panther: The Album — #9 — 33,044 (8,591) [32,343,646]
  6. Tee Grizzley — Activated — #10 — 32,883 (5,518) [39,345,915]
  7. Rae Sremmurd — SR3MM — #11 — 27,784 (852) [38,359,015]
  8. Migos — Culture II — #12 —26,872 (1,332) [35,599,248]
  9. Post Malone — Stoney — #13 — 26,640 (2,033) [34,549,972]
  10. XXXTENTACION — ? — #14 — 24,900 (604) [34,696,001]

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46975/title.hip-hop-album-sales-playboi-cartis-die-lit-makes-solid-billboard-200-debut

SZA Temporarily Cut From TDE’s Championship Tour

SZA is going to miss some dates on Top Dawg Entertainment’s Championship Tour.

On Tuesday (May 22), TDE founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith announced the platinum-selling singer will be temporarily removed from the tour due to issues with her vocal chords.

“I got some bad news,” Tiffith wrote via Twitter. “I have to take SZA off for a few days on the tour. Her vocal chords are swollen and she have to rest her voice to prevent any permanent damage. We been monitoring her close and this is the reason she missed the Arizona and New Mexico dates. She’ll see the doctor again in a few days and I’ll update you guys on her status. As for the dates she missed, we’ll figure out a way to make it up to you guys.”

Tiffith didn’t set a return date for SZA, but the Championship Tour has 18 more shows left to go, including Tuesday’s event (May 22) in Tampa.

The tour is scheduled to wrap up on June 16 in Pittsburgh.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46959/title.sza-temporarily-cut-from-tdes-championship-tour

It Was Written: Kelis Reveals Lucrative Income In Nas Child Support Case

Kelis, who recently accused Nas of domestic abuse, has revealed her financial records in her ongoing child support dispute with her ex-husband. According to The Blast, court documents say she made close to $1 million last year and has just under $700,000 in the bank.

In her income declaration, Kelis noted she has $691,153.22 in the bank and $1,374,000 worth of property. In 2017, her entertaining company had a net income of $463,809 while her food business Feast Enterprises netted her $31,000. Last year, music royalties earned her $9,000.

Kelis says her monthly expenses come to a total of $25,319. This includes $5,726 for her mortgage and $4,500 on child care.

The creator of the hit single “Milkshake” is seeking an $8,000 increase in child support from Nas for their 8-year-old son Knight.

Nas reportedly makes $175,000 per month and has more than $8.3 million in his bank account. His monthly expenses were listed at $76,834.04.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46960/title.it-was-written-kelis-reveals-lucrative-income-in-nas-child-support-case

Woman Claims She’s Prince’s Daughter Because She Wears Purple Lipstick & Is "Artistically Inclined"

Snowe Melinda Saxman says that she’s Prince’s long-lost daughter, and she’s willing to go to court to prove it.

According to The Blast, Saxman says that she never knew her real parents — because she was adopted when she was still a baby — but believes she’s Prince’s daughter because she has “substantial physical, temperamental and aspirational similarities” to Prince. She claims that she is a very artistic person who sings, dances, and taught herself to play several instruments. She also claims that many of her friends, growing up, said that she looks and acts like Prince.

Snowe Melinda Saxman says she was born on October 4, 1975 in Norfolk, VA and was adopted two weeks later. In court documents obtained by the blast, Snowe states “Since I was young, many people have noted that I possess substantial physical, temperamental and aspirational similarities to Prince. I have a close resemblance to Prince … I consider myself very artsy and my personality has been described as flamboyant, natural-born star and performer made for the stage. I sing, dance, write music, and have taught myself to play instruments. I created many dances during high school and performed on numerous occasions as a child and young adult.” _____________________________________________ She also claimed to have submitted her DNA to online an online site and they’ve advised her that her that “there were numerous matches with many relatives on Prince’s family tree.” She claims to have matched with Prince’s half brother, Duane, Prince’s ex-wife, Mayte Garcia and Prince’s parents. ____________________________________________ The picture above is the picture she allegedly chose to attach to her documents. (I guess the purple hair was suppose to.. nvm). Snowe is requesting to be names a Heir in Prince’s Estate. ______________________________________________ #AllegedTea #Alleged? #SnoweMelindaSaxman #Prince #PurpleRain #PurpleHair #CHILEBYE

A post shared by AllegedTea (@allegedtea) on May 21, 2018 at 4:04pm PDT

But her ultimate “claim” to Prince’s estate lies in the fact that she submitted her DNA to an online DNA database, and she “matched” with several of Prince’s relatives and his ex-wife, Mayte Garcia. She didn’t match with Prince, she says, because he died before he could submit his DNA to this or any other system.

So, naturally, she’s filed a claim in Minnesota courts for her share of his money on the basis of this claim.

A few years back, Saxman was presenting herself as a “mom-preneur” whose schtick involved helping women “get over their fears” about money.

You can check out her testimonial video below.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46961/title.woman-claims-shes-princes-daughter-because-she-wears-purple-lipstick-is-artistically-inclined

EPMD’s Parish Smith Talks "Yo! MTV Raps" Reunion & DJ Scratch Fallout

Back in 1989, Parish Smith and Erick Sermon — collectively known as EPMD — got their “So Wat Cha Sayin’” video on Yo! MTV Raps. It was the first time their music had aired on the iconic show.

Almost 30 years later, Smith, who calls that moment a “breakthrough” in their career, is gearing up for the upcoming Yo! MTV Raps anniversary concert in New York City, which marks the kick-off to a possible reboot of a modern day version of the show.

“When you was doing your music, when you was putting the groups together, that was one of the top goals,” Smith tells HipHopDX. “You wanted to put out a Hip Hop song good enough for your video to make it on Yo! MTV Raps.” 

But the Doctor Dre and Ed Lover-hosted show evolved into so much more than just a vessel for Hip Hop videos. As Smith explains, they were also focused on introducing Hip Hop to society. During that time, Hip Hop was still in its early stages and some people weren’t quite sure what to think of it.

“I remember doing one Yo! MTV Raps and the whole segment was built around a trip to the Statue of Liberty,” he recalls. “The hip hoppers was watching and could get educated if they didn’t come from New York, and if they was in a different country, they could see the Statue of Liberty. We’ve done remote shoots like that several times.

“So,  yeah we went to Ellis Island and had to get on the ferry, but in between we were shooting. When the whole program came out, you got to see us as a group but you also got to see the history of New York or wherever we were shooting at the time.”

The field trips led to several interesting moments — like when they ran into actor Al Lewis, who played Grandpa on The Munsters. 

“He’s actually in one of the segments,” he says.

Yo! MTV Raps aired from 1988 to 1995, and turned Ed Lover and Doctor Dre into bona fide legends. But little do people know, Ed was also voracious on the mic.

“Those guys was the real deal and they were serious,” Smith says. “No matter how much money you had or how many records you sold, you knew when you went on that show to have respect. Because first of all, Ed was one of the nicest freestylers on the planet. If you went on there not right, promoting your album, there’s a chance you could have got bodied in the freestyle by Ed.”

Over the past three decades, EPMD has pumped out eight albums, including the classic Strictly Business. But one piece of the puzzle is noticeably absent. DJ Scratch, who was introduced to Smith and Sermon by the late Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, left the group sometime in 2015 before publicly airing out his grievances with them on Instagram.

#2016WrapUp A year ago tonight was the last show I did with my former group. I was tired of the lies, the money stealing the sneaking around doing shows without me to keep more bread in their pockets meanwhile RUINING the brand!! So here’s my 2016 Wrap Up: Rite after I left the group I upgraded relaunched ScratchVision.com, went on a world tour of my own. Then was the opening act for Beyonce’s tour. Signed a endorsement deal with Monster Energy, then went on the Monster Energy tour (Still on tour). Launched my own App, then I was knighted a Grandmaster by Kool Herc. Then did the scratches on the album of the year (A Tribe Called Quest) to top it all off I am now the special guest tour DJ with ATCQ. I left a group who couldn’t afford to pay one DJ joined a group who can afford to pay 2 DJ’s. So for now on I’ll stick with the group that makes $100,000 minimum per show instead of the group that makes $6,000 maximum per show. For 2017 remove the toxic energy out of your life watch how many blessings you’ll receive. Happy New Year!!! Never get bitter, just get better!! They thought they buried me, but they forgot I was a seed!!!

A post shared by Turntable Whisperer (@djscratch) on Dec 31, 2016 at 7:39pm PST

Despite Scratch’s contentious exit from the group, Smith believes he and Sermon are in a good place, especially since they’ve had their own issues over the years.

“The situation with DJ Scratch was just an adjustment, and Erick and I getting back in sync with ourselves,” he says. “That’s what I think that was because we was out of sync for so many years that we had issues and communication things that we had to iron out, you know?”

“I just think there was a tremendous amount of miscommunication at the time when the industry was in a transition of switching from CDs to downloads and all of that,” he continues. “It takes a tremendous amount of communication. You really don’t know until you put yourself in a situation, until you have a calm atmosphere where everybody can just speak from their point of view to resolve old issues, move past them, and then keep your mind in the present.”

With DJ Diamond now in Scratch’s place, Smith and Sermon have moved on but there’s a sense Smith understands where Scratch is coming from.

“There’s passion for Hip Hop and the music,” he says. “There’s a difference between trying to do what you love and represent it, and running into roadblocks and still wanting to do it. That’s passion, as opposed to just F you and I’m done with you. Even with the way Scratch is expressing himself, I think DJ Scratch is just expressing himself through passion and frustration.”

JUST ANNOUNCED: YO! MTV Raps: 30th Anniversary Experience will be held here in Brooklyn on Friday, June 1! Click the link in our bio to see which hip-hop legends are set to perform. #YoMTV30

A post shared by Barclays Center (@barclayscenter) on Apr 18, 2018 at 11:16am PDT

The Yo! MTV Raps anniversary concert goes down on June 1 at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center, and includes performances by Big Daddy Kane, Eric B. Rakim, KRS-One, Doug E. Fresh and Brand Nubian, among others. 

Tickets are available here.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46946/title.epmds-parish-smith-talks-yo-mtv-raps-reunion-dj-scratch-fallout