It’s a week for the white rappers, while at the top, Glassnote’s Mumford & Sons looks destined for a third consecutive #1, with a total that could be 100k or higher, which wouild send the band's total number past 850k.
The week’s top debut is indie sleeper Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, a hip-hop duo from Seattle who had the #1 album on iTunes earlier this week with The Heist, which could do anywhere from 70-80k, according to our crack(ed?) retail pundits based on one-day sales.
Ben Haggerty, who goes by the nom de rap Macklemore, has been popular in his hometown Seattle for the better part of a decade, releasing a series of acclaimed mixtapes after working at a juvenile detention facility as part of a “Gateways” program centered around rap. He teamed up with DJ/producer Lewis a couple of years ago on an EP, which attracted attention for the song, “Otherside,” which described his addition to OxyContin and sampled from the Chili Peppers song of the same name..
UMe’s new KISS album, Monster, is the legendary theatrical rockers’ 20th studio recording and first since 2009’s Sonic Boom. Look for it to debut in the 60-65k range, a tribute to the tireless Gene Simmons’ ability to sell ice to the Eskimos. A free KISS coffin does not come with purchase.
Bad Boy/Interscope Texas-born, Cleveland-based rapper Machine Gun Kelly’s major label debut, Lace Up, is on target for between 50-55k in first-week sales. Known as MGK and born Colson Baker, the rap prodigy gets his name from the rapid-fire delivery he developed as a teenager. He’s been signed to P. Diddy’s label since 2011 and also has a marketing partnership for HTC’s Rezound Beats by Dre phone, with his “Invincible” track playing during the TV spot for the product.
Columbia legend Barbra Streisand’s Release Me is a collection of never-before-released gems from her extensive vaults, timed for a current tour and slated for between 40-45k in sales.
Xenon’s latest Coheed & Cambria opus from the veteran prog-rockers, The Aftermath: Ascension, the first of a two-album concept, of course, is headed for a very respectable 35-40k
Hopeless’ All Time Low album, Don’t Panic, the Baltimore pop-punkers’ fifth studio effort, which finds them back on an indie after releasing 2011’s Dirty Work on Intrerscope, is looking at the same 35-40k total.
Interscope U.K. singer/songwriter Ellie Goulding’s sophomore album, Halcyon, featuring the singles, “Anything Could Happen” and the just-released “I Know You Care,” looks to be in the 30-35k range.
Epic Irish pop-rockers The Script’s third album, imaginatively named #3, is in the 25-30k after the band received a Brit Award nomination for Best International Group last year. The band’s last album, 2010’s Science & Faith, debuted at #3 on the U.S. charts with 49k in sales, reaching a total of 314k in the U.S. and more than 1.5 million worldwide.
Album sales were down 6% vs. last week, up 4% vs. same week last year and down 4% year to date.
Track sales were up 1% vs. last week, up 13% vs. same week last year and up 6% year to date.
TEA sales were down 4% vs. last week, up 7% vs. same week last year and down 1% year to date.
Selling the same as Cher Lloyd coming off of Lights, and her new single which is getting big, and huge more hype.
