Sadly, everything about an artist these days boils down to first week sales.
"With that big a single and they didn't even break 100K?"
"He didn't even sell shit."
"That's all they sold? LOL I told you it was all hype. It's over for that guy!"
And no, that's not the kind of banter we hear in the halls of a record label, it's the kind of banter you hear from rap fans on the regular. For whatever reason, rap fans love keeping track of first week sales. Look at the comment section of any hip-hop website and you'll probably find kids citing sales figures as if they were some label executive who wouldn't be able to pay their kid's private school if Jay Z's next album didn't sell enough copies. It's strange to have to tell a rap "fan" this instead of an industry person but; Chill out, sales aren't everything. They do mean something, but it can't be the only barometer of success.
With that being said, since everyone seems to care about first week sales so much, here's a video counting down The 10 Best First Week Sales In Hip-Hop History. And yes, it's dominated by a handful of rappers. And once you get your fix, please just go and enjoy some music for being good music.
