This isn't the coming out party Wale had in mind. Despite heavy promotion and big name collaborations, his Interscope debut, Attention Deficit, only managed a measly 28,000 units in its first week. Those numbers were only good enough for a #21 spot on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.
Comments
Damn.
Henry -
What’s your take on this debut figure? IMO, I feel as if its an indicator of poor marketing and the fact that quite frankly if your name isn’t Jay-Z, its just tough to sell a quality hip hop album these days.
Just my 2 cents
Actually, I think Interscope gambled and marketed to the wrong audience. Also, Wale’s manager claims that the CDs were undershipped.
Yeah, he kinda went mainstream on this one. Shouldn’t have comprised, that way the true hip-hop heads would buy it and clearly would be better/ more loyal fans.
Mitch & Henry,
I see what you are both saying and as a fan, I would agree; I would prefer a Wale headbanger that is reminiscent of The Mixtape About Nothing. However, If there was a compromise, I don’t think he really loss his core demographic since the album does deliver lyrically, just through a more pop-centric medium.
Hip Hop is both a business and a way to communicate. If you have an album that only appeals to a small demographic, your losing out on $$$$ and ears that will listen. Wale just wanted to have the best of both worlds by having some pop-centric songs while giving the fans what they want. I think it was you Henry (correct me if I’m wrong) that said Wale is pulling a Kanye.
Anyways, I hope this doesn’t tank Wale’s career. He’s definitly worthwhile.
28k is a flop to you? interscope only shipped 30k, he’s never even had a charting single, no one outside of serious hip hop fans has even heard of him
tylr,
Do you not remember “Chillin”?
yeah, i remember how it did not chart
Really, if you think about it he’ll never have real good mainstream success. The only way he’ll stay afloat in hip hop is if he did what he did on his mixtapes. Just have straight lyrical hip hop. When he does that he will have a good fan following.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chillin_(Wale_song)
Haha. Mitch wins.
i’d say his mediocre sales have something to do with his success being driven mainly by blogs and internet hype.. wale ain’t done but his core fans are still true blogheads, also known as pirates
its sad thats the out come but honestly i think his movement was over hyped he is a good mc but he has holes in resume check this dude out for a taste of somthing a lil different.
myspace.com/shounlootmusic
Just another case of people trying not to give D.C.a chase.I,ve been listing to rap for over 20 years this c.d. is very good.
haha, patrick l, i win
http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/wale/chart-history/962199
billboard is a much more crdible source than wikipedia, and even if wikipedia were correct, that #99 would have had to come off of downloads as it didn’t chart on the rap or hip-hop/r&b chart
Wikipedia may not be credible, but this info was cited. See:
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/rapper-wale-chillin-out-on-the-charts-1003995136.story#/bbcom/news/rapper-wale-chillin-out-on-the-charts-1003995136.story
Check the link tyler, Mitch did win.
I bought the album same day as I bought both Gift of Gab’s new album and Royce’s Street Hop. Id have to say that Attention Deficit is prob the weakest of the three albums.
Id consider myself a Wale fan. Got his two mixtapes and have seen him live in concert. He really won me over at his live show with his performance.
My biggest Wale beef is that he uses and recycles that line “…. DC Chillin, Name’s Wale and…” WAY too much during the album. I mean I dont even think Mos Def re-uses and borrows his own lines as much as Wale did. Does this bother anyone else?
Ill also add that his performance and verse during the BET cypher segments was pretty underwhelming. I had friends watching that who said “I though you told me this Wale guy was good.”