Do first-week gross sales nonetheless matter? Whereas 2023 marks the fiftieth yr of hip-hop, paradoxically, rap is having a down yr, because the style reaches 5 a long time in existence.
Hip-hop, as soon as the largest style of music just some years in the past, has not too long ago proven a decline within the mass market attributable to quite a lot of elements. Even tickets gross sales struggling. As proof of the gross sales dip, solely a handful of rappers have landed No. 1 spots on the Billboard Sizzling 100 and Billboard 200 charts in 2023. Artists are beginning to really feel the pinch. On Oct. 9, Southern rap veteran Juicy J lamented about hip-hop’s downturn.
“I do know lots of people don’t wish to hear this, however rap music is down 40 p.c. Examine the charts. Examine the maths,” he stated in a video shared on social media. “What are we, as rappers, producers, composers, going to do about this s**t? As a result of it’s down 40 p.c this yr. Do your analysis. This can be a truth.”
He continued: “Let’s have a dialog. What are we gonna do? We gotta determine some s**t out. We gotta sit down and speak. Let’s have a gathering, let’s meet up someplace and have a big-a** f**king assembly. Let’s discuss this s**t, how we are able to flip this s**t round. As a result of that is how we eat. That is how we earn a living.”
Regardless of the down yr, a choose few artists have proven and proved when it was their time to shine. Nonetheless, the numbers pale compared to earlier years when rap was on prime. XXL takes a have a look at the largest first-week gross sales for rap releases this yr. This checklist solely consists of albums that have been launched in 2023, so initiatives from prior years which have impacted gross sales this yr like Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains or Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss is not going to seem.
Try the largest gross sales for hip-hop albums this yr under.
