Jay Rock's new album Studio Listening Session (and legends Dr. Dre & Snoop approve)

I've been supporting the 25-year old rapper from LA, Jay Rock, for a long time. He's dropped a load of mixtapes & he's been through a whirlwind of recording situations - From attempting to write for Aftermath, to touring with 50 Cent, to having a failed record deal with Warner Bros Records, to being named MTV's Breath-through MC of 2010, to being featured on the XXL Freshman cover, and then finally successfully signing a record deal at Tech N9ne's independent juggaknot Strange Music in late 2010 - he's been through alot. He's collaborated with artists like: Lil Wayne, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Will-I-Am, Akon, The Game, Twista, E-40, Bun B, Xzibit, Kurupt, Glasses Malone, Lloyd, Omarion, Main-o, Crooked I, Nippsey Hussle, Kendrick Lamar, his boss Tech N9ne, and more. Below is a 2-minute clip of footage from a studio listening session of his new debut album "Follow Me Home". Rap legends Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg are in attendance and give him their stamp of approval! If you are feeling his album too...it'll be released in stores today (7/26/2011) so go support him & buy it. Enjoy...

New Hopsin Video "Ill Mind of Hopsin 4" (Tyler The Creator diss)

If anything the new Tech N9ne album has put me onto a really dope emcee named Hopsin, that I previously have never heard of before...and the more music I find, I'm becoming a bigger fan. Hopsin's a 26-year old rapper from Panorama City, California. He was initally signed to Ruthless Records back in 2007, but opted out because of stagnant business. Since then he's been slowly building a small internet buzz by posting his notable music videos and small shows/films on websites like Youtube. Most recently in 2011, he earned a primetime feature along with B.o.B. on indepedent juggaknot Tech N9ne's latest album 'All 6's & 7's' on the song "Am I A Psycho?". Below is his newest video for the song "Ill Mind of Hopsin 4", in which takes some jabs at OddFuture's frontman Tyler The Creator. Subsequently, both TI & B.o.B. (who Tyler The Creator has dissed as well) have stated their and posted this same video on their Facebook pages too. Enjoy...

Cali emcee Kendrick Lamar in the studio w/ Pharrell Williams

For those of you up on newcomer California emcee Kendrick Lamar, he was recently in the studio working on a few tracks with Pharrell Williams & The Neptunes. For those that don't know about him, step your game up. He is a 24 year old rapper from Compton, whose been experimenting with his new breed of hip-hop that combines raw lyricism, street themed music, and a strong jazz-influenced selection of production. He's recently been a featured artist on XXL Magazine's 2011 Freshman cover. In 2010, thanks to the regional buzz he received from his debut EP release "The Kendrick Lamar EP", he began touring with Tech N9ne & Jay Rock. 2011 is looking even bigger for him as he currently just finished up touring with Drake & Rihanna, and has released in the beginning of July his first retail store/Itune release, "Section.80". It contains highlighted features from: RZA (from Wu-Tang), GLC, & Colin Munroe; while having production from the likes of Terrace Martin, J. Cole, Wildfyer, THC, and others. Enjoy the studio footage below:

Weekly Urban CD Sales (week ending July 10th, 2011)

Disregarding my personal opinions about her new album (we'll speak about that in another post), Beyonce stays killin' em on the charts this week. Now in her 2nd week of release for her album '4', she has added more than 115,000 cds to the tally, upping it to 426,000 sold overall. The Destiny's Child alum's fourth solo album has a feature from Andre 3000, as well as production from: Kanye West, Shea Taylor, Jeff Bhasker, Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, Babyface, Ryan Teddler, & Symbolic One.


Duo Eminem and Royce da 5'9 continue their success as Bad Meets Evil with the album 'Hell: The Sequel', climbing 4 spots to #5 selling 35,000 more units this week. These Motor City natives are gradually approaching gold status with an overall total of 312,000 units sold. Jill Scott remains in the nation's best, posted at #7 with another 32,000 sold, adding into the total 223,000 copies the Pennsylvania powerhouse has sold so far of 'Light Of the Sun'. This album is highlighted by features from: Eve, Anthony Hamilton, Paul Wall, & Doug E. Fresh.


Elsewhere, Def Jam/G.O.O.D. Music's newcomer Big Sean stays in the Top 10, dropping from #5 to #9 in his 2nd week, pushing another 27,000 copies of his solo debut 'Finally Famous: The Album'. He has sold about 114,000 cds total thus far, on a project that has featured appearances from: Kanye West, Chris Brown, Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Wiz Khalifa, Lupe Fiasco, The-Dream, Chiddy Bang, Roscoe Dash, & Dwele. Rounding out the Top 10 is R&B singer Lloyd's new album 'King of Hearts', which has moved 26,000 units in it's 1st week on the shelves. This cd is guest-heavy featuring the likes of Lil Wayne, Andre 3000, R. Kelly, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, The Game, Young Jeezy, Keri Hilson, & K'naan, and is primarily produced by Polow Da Don.


Top Album Sales [Top 5 Hip-Hop/R&B]:
#1 - Beyonce: "4"
=115,200 units sold this week (426,000 sold total)

#5 - Royce da 5'9 & Eminem: "Hell: The Sequel"

=35,000 units sold this week (312,000 sold total)

#7 - Jill Scott: "Light of the Sun"

=32,000 units sold this week (223,000 sold total)

#9 - Big Sean: "Finally Famous The Album"

=27,000 units sold this week (114,000 sold total)

#10 - Lloyd: "King Of Hearts"

=26,000 units sold this week

After a month on the shelves, Miami rapper Pitbull's album 'Planet Pit' fell 2 spots to #16, selling 18,800 this week, to bring Mr. 305's grand total up 102,200 records. R&B-pop star Bruno Mars' 'Doo-Wops & Hooligans' is still looking very healthy after 40 weeks on charts, climbing 7 slots to #21, by moving 13,900 units. His debut has sold 1,157,900 total so far, and features the likes of: Damian Marley, B.O.B., & Cee-Lo Green. Young Money's Nicki Minaj has jumped up 11 spots to #25 with 12,600 sold this week, bringing her debut 'Pink Friday's total to 1,473,200 sold. Receiving the largest boost from the recent BET Awards is Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa, whose debut 'Rolling Papers' hopped up 13 slots to #29 selling 11,300 cds this week, bringing him just inches from a Gold plaque, at 495,200 sold after 4 months in stores.

Grammy-winning Rihanna hopped up 11 slots to #32, with 10,800 more sold of her album 'Loud'. After 34 weeks, the Barbados-born singer's newest album stands at 1,360,800 copies. After 55 weeks on the charts, standing strong at #34 is the Shady Records' heavyweight Eminem whose 'Recovery' album moved another 10,700 units, bringing his it's grand total up to 3,943,000. Chris Brown shows that his fame hasn't suffered as his cd 'F.A.M.E.' remains at #39 with this album pushing another 10,100 this week. With 4 months in stores, Chris Breezy's newest cd has sold 656,200 copies so far. Enjoying the surprise success of his 2nd single "Sure Thing", Miguel's album 'All I Want Is You' jumped up 26 spots to #46, with 8,500 units moved. After 26 weeks, his debut album has sold 235,900 records so far.

Underground giant, Tech N9ne continus his indie success with his latest album 'All 6's & 7's', landing at #58 this week with 7,000 cds sold, bringing his total to 102,100 sold indepedentally. The New Orleans native Curren$y's new release 'Weekend at Burnie's' sells another 5,900 cds this week, good enough for #82 on the charts, and 28,000 sold in 2 weeks. Odd Future's frontman and public jerk, Tyler The Creator's sophomore double-album 'Goblin' remains on the charts at #144 on the strength of 3,200 copies sold, or 89,000 total sold in 9 weeks. UK-sensation, Tinie Tempah isn't letting anything stop his international success 'Disc-Overy', selling another 2,600 cds, climbing to the Billboard charts at #173, bringing his grand total to 41,000.

Sales Stats [Other Charting Hip-Hop/R&B]

#16 - Pitbull: "Planet Pit"

=18,800 units sold this week (102,200 sold total)

#21 - Bruno Mars: "Doo-Wops & Hooligans"

=13,900 units sold this week (1,157,900 sold total)

#25 - Nicki Minaj: "Pink Friday"

=12,600 units sold this week (1,473,200 sold total)

#29 - Wiz Khalifa: "Rolling Papers"

=11,300 units sold this week (495,200 sold total)

#32 - Rihanna: "Loud"

=10,800 units sold this week (1,360,800 sold total)

#34 - Eminem: "Recovery"

=10,700 units sold this week (3,943,000 sold total)

#39 - Chris Brown: "F.A.M.E."

=10,100 units sold this week (656,200 sold total)

#46 - Miguel: "All I Want Is You"

=8,500 units sold this week (235,900 sold total)

#58 - Tech N9ne: "All 6's & 7's"

=7,000 units sold this week (102,100 sold total)

#82 - Curren$y: "Weekend At Burnie's"

=5,900 units sold this week (28,000 sold total)

#144 - Tyler The Creator: "Goblin"

=3,200 units sold this week (89,000 sold total)

#173 - Tinie Tempah: "Disc-Overy"

=2,600 units sold this week (41,000 sold total)

Who will reign supreme in next week's charts? And how many more will Beyonce sell? Keep it locked here to see where new releases from The Cool Kids, Cali Swag District, and more end up. Take Care!