Black Eyed Peas Comes Close To Gold In Second Week On The Charts

With no big releases dropping last week, two of hip-hop’s biggest and best-selling acts, the Black Eyed Peas and Eminem, continue to battle it out for the top spot.

Although BEP fell to the no. two spot in their second week on the charts, the four-piece still leads the rap pack, bringing in 147,600 in sales figures. Despite the alleged altercation between the group’s front man will.i.am and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, fans continued to flock to stores to cop the Peas' fifth album. The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) currently has an overall tally of 452,100 discs sold, according to the Nielsen SoundScan.

Detroit superstar Eminem landed two spots down at no. 4 this week. While preparing to release his latest video, for the heartfelt track, “Beautiful,” Relapse keeps bringing in numbers. In its fifth week on the Billboard 200, the comeback CD brought in an additional 72,500 to the fold, making Em’s total stand at 1,121,500.

Falling 20 spots this go-round is Brooklyn rap renaissance man Mos Def. The Mighty Mos’s latest disc, The Ecstatic, dropped 60 percent in sales this week and landed at the no. 29 spot. Fans picked up 15,700 copies of Pretty Flaco’s new effort this week, making his two-week stats stand at 55,100.

Debuting at no. 37 is the new project from Boots Riley from The Coup and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine called, Street Sweeper Social Club. The self-titled CD from the rock/rap mashup moved 14,000 units in its first week on the charts.

While hip-hop is scarcely represented in the top 40 this week, there are a slew of releases that may make their way onto the charts next week, with new albums from Kanye’s homeboys Sa-Ra Creative Partners, revolutionary duo dead prez, newcomers F.L.Y. and hip-hop vets the Soul Assassins, Grand Puba and U-God. Log on next Wednesday to see how they fare. – Max G