S. Samuel
Maybach Much Group rapper Wale's Ambition first-week sales have been revealed showing the Washington, D.C.-bred emcee's sophomore LP en route to sell nearly 200,000 copies.
Based on one-day estimates, Wale’s new album will easily debut in the Nielsen SoundScan Top 200.
As of today, Justin Bieber‘s Island Def Jam holiday album, Under the Mistletoe, appears to top this week’s new releases in the battle for #1 on next Tuesday’s HITS sales chart, with a total of between 200-225k. First-week estimates from those retailers around the country who haven’t shut down and reopened as Herman Cain campaign headquarters, peg Wale’s sophomore album Ambition, to sell between 170-190k, which puts him in the hunt for a red-hot November debut. Voltron/EMI R&B star Tyrese’s comeback, Open Invitation, his first album since 2006’s Alter Ego, and his EMI debut, is slated for a surprisingly robust 60-65k. (HITS Daily Double)
The rapper’s 2009 debut album Attention: Deficit just missed Top 20.
Rap newcomer Wale’s long-awaited Attention: Deficit landed on the charts this week debuting at No. 21. After seven days on store shelves, the rapper’s new album shelled out 28,300 copies. (Sales Wrap)
Wale previously said Interscope was not focused on strong first-week numbers.
“This is my biography,” Wale said of his debut. “It’s honest. Raw emotion…My label is letting me put out an album with a single that released seven months ago. We’re not going for first week sales. We’re only shipping out 30,000 of them. We’re going for that grind. We’re showing people that you can build a fanbase the old fashioned way.” (Honey Magazine)
In August, the Maybach Music Group member talked about not putting his full energy into album sales.
“None of us have been able to create a critically-acclaimed album so to speak,” Wale said in an interview. “That was my goal to try to do that. I ain’t really into selling because I’m doing pretty good. I got records on the radio for the first time in my career. I’m just trying to make a classic album, something that you can put up there with [Jay-Z‘s 1996 debut] Reasonable Doubt and all the stuff that’s blasphemous to compare your work to now. Why can’t I say my album is just as good as Reasonable Doubt or I’m trying to beat Reasonable Doubt? That sh*t is blasphemous to say.” (XXL Mag)
Check out some recent Wale footage below:
