"Hip-Hop Is Dead" Predicted To Do 200K In First We

by **848lu** » Dec 21st, '06, 15:33

One day after the release of Nas' 8th solo album, Hip-Hop Is Dead, the Queens lyricist is expected to carry on Def Jam's fourth quarter onslaught by putting up solid numbers.
"The day it [Hip-Hop Is Dead] dropped, a lot of people bought it, Tuesday night, Wednesday morning," Kevin Weeks, an employee at Times Square's Virgin Megastore in New York City, said. "He's gonna do well."

With albums steadily flying off Best Buys and Virgin shelves, experts expect the CD to sell at least 200,000 copies in its first week.

"I'm gonna say 200 [thousand] first week," Raphael George, Billboard's R&B Charts Manager, said. "He's got a lot of attention right now, a lot of people are talking about him. A lot of people are talking about what he said about 'hip-hop is dead,' people, especially from the south are taking offense to that."

"I think right now he's got a lot going in his corner," George added. "Even though radio right now might not say that, but Nas, his stuff doesn't really hit radio like that."

In related news, it appears that Def Jam has successfully taken over the fourth quarter. Jay-Z sold 680,000 copies of his Kingdom Come album in its first week back in late November, landing on Billboard's top spot. After hitting stores last week, Young Jeezy's The Inspiration just nabbed another No.1 album for Def Jam -selling 352,000 copies in one week according to Nielsen's Soundscan.