Jay Z has a big second week, J. Cole goes gold, and Hip-Hop continues to shine as we near the end of July.

The perplexity surrounding the marketing of Magna Carta Holy Grail certainly makes it easier to sell. The album pretty much flies off the shelves on its own despite mixed reviews from fans, critics, and music junkies alike. The nonchalant approach taken to his 12th studio verifies that Jay Z is driving on the autobahn, without a speed limit. Whether you agree with the tactics or not, Hov topped 100,000 this week again. Aside from Samsung‘s million units, the album is looking to hit another million, eyeing the double platinum status. Even with worthy competitors it seems as if MCHG will not relinquish its peak position at No.1 on the Billboard 200 anytime soon.

J. Cole breaks the 500,000 mark going gold, proving Born Sinner remains a fan favorite and validating his decision to release his album a week ahead of schedule. With Yeezus directly behind him at 475,000, the June 18th race is neck and neck. Mac Miller is a distant third but that does not take anything away from his great effort on Watching Movies With The Sound Off. At 156,000 Mac does not show the marketing potency as do Kanye West and J. Cole, nonetheless, his sophomore album was great for the genre and awoke those who were sleeping on the Pittsburgh native.

Wale comes in with 18,000 this week, putting The Gifted at 255,000 total. You can add this album to the roster of hip-hop albums going over 100,000 so far this year. A big winner this week is Ace Hood with Trials & Tribulations coming in at No. 4 in the charts with 34,000 copies sold. Still moving over 15,000 units are Justin Timberlake and Macklemore. One thing we know as we have about 5-6 weeks of summer left, hip-hop’s strong hold continues.

Virgilio Mendez
@REGULARGUYV