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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wale Sells 28K in First Week, Manager Claims LP Was Under Shipped via xxlmag.com

After several push backs, Attention: Deficit—the debut CD from XXL Freshman alum Wale—finally hit stores last Tuesday (November 10). Seven days later his first-week stats are in, and unfortunately the CD failed to top any of the big dawgs from their top spots on The Billboard 200 sales charts.

According to the Nielsen SoundScan, the disc landed at the no. 21 spot, with 28,100 units sold. With all the hype surrounding the release, a guest spot on Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 tour and a gig fronting the official house band of the 2009 MTV VMAs, many believed the Interscope rapper would have a bigger first week.

XXLMag.com spoke with Wale’s manager, Daniel Weisman, who claims that the label under shipped the disc to stores, much like what happened to fellow “Class of 09″ MC Asher Roth. ”Wale’s the type of artist who is bigger than the metrics (radio) say he is,” Weisman said. “That puts the label in a tough position in terms of physical distribution and because of twitter we are able to hear direct feedback from the fans about the problems they had actually finding the CD. But 64% of Wale’s sales came from digital outlets which makes sense for Wale. It’s a testament to Interscope and their confidence in Wale’s brand that they put the record out without a big single.”

The other only new hip-hop release to enter the charts this week was Wyclef Jean’s new collaborative effort with DJ Drama. The rap vet’s street CD, From the Hut, to the Projects, to the Mansion, debuted at no. 171, selling 3,300 discs. Drama—who executive-produced the extended EP—described it to to XXL as “Wyclef’s first all-around hip-hop project since The Carnival.”

Continuing his dominance at the head of the rap pack is Brooklyn rap giant Jay-Z. Despite falling one spot to no. 16 BP3 managed to ring up 33,000 more albums to his overall sales figure this go-round. After 10 weeks, the rapper’s latest opus has sold 1,271,200 units.

Four spots down at no. 20 is the Black Eyed Peas. The E.N.D. pulled in another 28,200 in sales this week, making its total tally stand at 1,356, 200.

Next week look for 50 Cent’s long-awaited fourth solo album Before I Self Destruct to make a huge impact on The Billboard 200. —Elan Mancini

17 comments:

dj dmv said...

i kinda knew he wouldnt sell. he didnt have hits or promo. most of that 28 thousand sells probably came from people in his hometown. wish he couldve done more to save face but a brick is a brick.

Anonymous said...

Them niggas got more excuses that a broke man on the 1st of the month. I follow Wale on twitter and I almost unfollowed him after he basically spammed my timeline last week.

When the numbers came out and I read the totals I was waiting for him to tweet and nothing. Just excuses about how they undershipped this and that.

KARMA said...

This is karma biting him in the ass. He basically shitted on his city and then told every local artist he would help them and they jumped on the bandwagon. How embarrassing but humbling at the same time.

Anonymous said...

I like the album. Too bad many dont even know its out. Favorite song is 90210.

Kika said...

I believe it was undershipped. I kept running to the store and they said it didnt come the day it was supposed to. It was about a week late. That's in Germany though, but I believe it was the same all over. Big fuck up on the record company's part. Album is dope. I payed around 23$ for it.
check my blog at
www.blowinupda.blogspot.com

Tese Fever said...

@Kika....I agree.

I remember him saying in Honey mag, or Ebony or something that they only shipped about 33,000. Plus, everywhere I went to buy it on tuesday said they either didn't carry it (including Target), or were sold out. When you sell out all over, that means you're doing numbers UNLESS the album was under shipped.

He made that statement some weeks before the release. I'm pissed at his label though...they had little faith in him so now they making him look bad. SMH

UPSET THE SETUP said...

if 68% of sales were digital, what is the ACTUAL impact of under-shipping on total sales?

Marginal at best.

Weismann's still out there as 'manager'? lol

Anonymous said...

Man!!!!!!!! They dropped the ball they should have put that album out along with that chillen joint! fuck these majors! I hope he stay's on that tour wit jay-z because that show money is paying his bills anyway!

Anonymous said...

The tour he is on with Jay in canceled.

Mo Betta said...

Only opinion I'll offer is on the album it's self I like easily half of it alot. Some tracks I dont like based on the type of tempo of the tracks so honestly dont give 'em a fair chance but. Mirrors, Shades, Beautiful Bliss, Cnter of attention (itunes track) contemplate, chillin, world tour, are serious i feel im forgetting one but yeah thats 7 which at a buck a pop gives u $7 im content with that its a good album.

TonyB said...

I'm just gonna be honest.... I feel like the album was not hot at all. Now don't get me wrong, I support Wale 100%, and bought 3 copies (1 digital 2 CDs) just to show love. I admire his talent, and I have every track that he has dropped since the beginning. The nigga spits str8 fire, he has the ability to change the industry. But this album was weak, especially compared to what people expected of him. I liked the "Mixtape about Nothing" better than this, and I think "Back to the Feature" may be one of the greatest Mixtapes of all time. This album still showcased his talent, but I feel that he was hurt by industry politics. It really hurt me when I listened to it, cause Wale is way to dope for this. All they had to do was pick better tracks, he already has the material....we all know he has better material. He needs to fire whoever is advising him, and call the shots himself. Fuck a record label.

Thats why he didnt sell records.

Anonymous said...

BWAHAHAHA - I think it was under shipped though. I mean I know I coulnd't find it and it's obvious it didn't sell out so yeah under shipped.

Uptown All Day said...

He is not a superstar. Wale was a tax writeoff and just something to keep interscope employees working. They didnt want him to fail. He was on Mtv awards, BET, and all that shit. But they wanted him to fail. Get the fuck outta here.

DJ Torkaveli said...

no comment

Ardamus said...

That sucks. His album is pretty good.

O.Smith said...

Its a solid album but I knew it wasn't gonna sell big (even before the whole undershipped thing came up) just because he is a new artist. Unless you're one of the big guys (50, Jay, Kanye, Wayne) in hip hop you aren't selling big, especially wit your first album in this recession... He'll do better next time. Good album tho - Shades, Beautiful Bliss, Prescription

Anonymous said...

people buy music online more these days so the excuse of undershipping is void. if people really wanted the cd they wuda got it. the whole cd is bush/wack/some cut/etc. shuda had bks prod the whole thing. he strayed away from his sound (in which people already WERENT feeling) and went pop. like always, the features saved this tape from bein a total catastrophe. i agree wit dude, he shuda did all this independently. prob wuda sold more, prob wuda got more attention as well as bread. nevertheless, history was made on that day. wat kinda history is yet ta be determined.