August Alsina’s ‘Testimony’ Debuts At No. 2 In This Week’s Album Sales (4/23/2014)
“Testify”
August Alsina: I might as well give you my all and here it is. It is in your face. It’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I’m telling you who I am. I am opening up the album out the gate and letting you know who I am and where I come from. You can really understand me, and it also lets me grab your attention. Let you know that this ain’t a joke. It’s called “Testify” because that’s what I am doing. For me and for every other person that’s just like me, 'cause there are so many people in the world that have similar stories to me, that comes from a struggle. So that’s what it really was about. I just felt that was the appropriate way to come on the album. This is August Alsina from day one to the man that you know me now.
Anytime you just being 100, it just comes naturally. I don’t know if you heard my EP, but you know how I had those interludes whenever I am talking and shit, it’s like a lot of times songs come from a conversation. You know, niggas going back and really listening to it and what I am saying. All I do is transfer that and speak from my heart.
I had a conversation with my dog, Sean. It’s crazy ‘cause so much of my music, like I said, comes from a conversation. Me and Sean, we’ve been writing together from day one. Sean Penn. It’s a conversation we had. It’s not even one conversation, it’s conversations over time. Just shit that I go through like everyday. He’s older and that’s my nigga. I holler at him in any and every thing. Advice, whatever the next. Just shit that I go through in a daily basis.
Disney’s Frozen soundtrack does it again. According to Billboard, the album sits at No. 1 for the 11th week with 259,000 copies sold. Fueled by Easter weekend, Frozen jumped in sales from his previous week, where it only sold 133,000 copies.
In other areas of the Billboard 200, August Alsina’s Def Jam debut Testimony sold a high amount of units this week. Backed by big singles like “I Luv This Shit” and “Ghetto,” the LP sold over 63,000 copies. Elsewhere, Jason Derulo’s Talk Dirty breaks the Top 5 with 43,000 copies. Lastly, Pharrell’s G I R L doesn’t seem to be slowing down with approximately 32,000 copies. Here’s a breakdown of other notable hip-hop albums and relevant releases from this week.
1. Disney, Frozen - 261,169
2. August Alsina, Testimony - 63,552
4. Jason Derulo, Talk Dirty - 43,779
7. Pharrell Williams, G I R L - 32,498
11. Shakira, Shakria. - 23,092
15. Eminem, Marshall Mathers LP 2 - 17,536
25. Nas, Illmatic XX - 12,086
28. YG, My Krazy Life - 11,005
32. Beyonce, Beyonce - 10,546
34. Rick Ross, Mastermind - 10,192
46. Justin Timberlake, 20/20 Experience 2 Of 2 - 7,785
48. ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron - 7,117
49. Jhene Aiko, Sail Out EP - 6,968
[via Billboard & HitsDailyDouble]