New Releases By Rza, Cappadonna & Left Eye All Fail To Make It On To The Billboard 200

With album sales steadily on the decline, several new discs by OJ Da Juiceman, Cappadonna, Rza and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes all failed to make it on to the Billboard 200 sales chart this week.

According to the Nielsen SoundScan the beloved TLC rapper’s posthumous LP, Eye Legacy, just missed the top 200, selling only 2,550 copies in its first week. The CD contains unreleased material by the late rapper, who died seven years ago in a car accident, reworked with guest spots by Chamillionaire, Missy Elliot, Lil Mama and of course her TLC group mates Chilli and T-Boz.

Gucci Mane affiliate OJ Da Juiceman fell just behind Lopes, moving 2,200 copies of his debut The Otha Side Of The Trap. Further down the line is Rza’s soundtrack for the Samuel L. Jackson-helmed cartoon series “Afro Samurai.” While the Wu-Tang mastermind managed to scan 1,880 CDs this week, fellow Shaolin MC Cappadonna wasn’t as lucky. His latest disc, Slang Prostitution was only able to pump 330 copies out of stores.

On the top of the charts this week was Chicago rapper/producer extraordinaire Kanye West. Despite falling one spot down to no. 5, Ye’s 808s & Heatbreak, sold an additional 33,330 albums this go-around, bringing his total album sales to 1,257,340.

Ten spots down at no. 15 is New Jersey-bred crooner Akon. The Konvict music head climbed up two notches this week, as 21,800 copies of his third solo album Freedom cleared the shelves. The singer now stands at a total sales tally of 443,740. Directly under Kon is T.I. at no. 16. The Atlanta MC sold a grand total of 1,638,270 copies of Paper Trail after ringing up an additional 20,560 disc this cycle.

Sitting at no. 24 and 25 respectively is the Notorious OST and rap superstar Lil Wayne. The movie compilation for the Biggie biopic rang up 15,720 discs this week, bringing its total sales to 87,750. Weezy’s Tha Carter III continues on its path to triple platinum status, with its grand total standing at 2,964,990, after moving 15,570 additional units this go-around.

Rounding out the top 40 for the second week in a row is rapper/actor Ludacris with his 7th studio album Theater of the Mind. With 12,320 additional discs sold this cycle, Luda’s overall stats stand at 530,490.

Next week look for a major bump in sales from Lil Wayne, Kanye and T.I. with the 51st annual Grammy Awards set to air this Sunday (Feb. 8th) on CBS. – Elan Mancini