Jay-Z still owned the charts this week, holding a consecutive #1 spot in a year that's proven hard to do so. Blueprint 3 crossed the gold record line and heads quickly towards platinum, as Hova continues to do press with late night television shows, the BBC and urban radio. Right behind Jay, Whitney Houston climbed the charts from #3 to #2, also crossing the gold benchmark, as the veteran singer also does top press spots for I Look To You.

The new stars of Universal Records, Kid Cudi and Drake also flooded the top of the charts. Cudi's debut long-player Man On The Moon: The End of Day scanned just over six figures, with its executive production from Kanye West. The acclaimed album also features narration by Common. Cudi's '08 classmate, Drake, released selections from his winter '09 So Far Gone mixtape to the masses an EP. Best Buy had the effort priced at $6.99, and included the Canadian star's hits, "Successful" and "Best I Ever Had" as well as "Fear" which acknowledges one-time peers Little Brother and Slum Village. The EP sold just over 73,000 copies last week. Lil Boosie also walked away with a #7 debut-week position. The Baton Rouge rapper released his latest, Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz through Warner/Asylum/Trill, and scanned just under 50,000 debut weeks.
* please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandeth.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
1	Jay-Z	Blueprint 3	298,000	774,000
2	Whitney Houston	I Look To You	156,000	554,000
4	Kid Cudi	Man On The Moon: The End Of Day	104,000	104,000
6	Drake	So Far Gone	73,000	74,000
7	Lil Boosie	Superbad: The Return Of Boosie Bad Azz	49,000	49,000

Raekwon inches closer to 100,000 with his fourth solo effort, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2. Released through Chef's own Ice Water imprint, he was backed and distributed by the '09-secret success story, EMI Records. The album is Rae's most elaborate to date, with Dr. Dre, RZA, Erick Sermon, Alchemist, J Dilla, Pete Rock and Marley Marl all contributing production.

Eminem dipped his almost mandatory weekly-two more spots to #32 with his Relapse, an album that may reach 1.5 million units sold before October. 

Veteran outfits Trick Daddy and a collaborative album from KRS-One & Buckshot both cracked the charts. Finally Famous scanned just over 13,000 units, while the Duck Down Records release Survival Skills sold just under 9,000. The effort serves as a Boot Camp Clik reunion with Mary J Blige. Between the two, Cali teen duo the New Boyz debuted with a five-figure performance with Skinny Jeanz & A Mic.

Rank	Artist	Album	This Week	Est. Total
22	Raekwon	Only Built For Cuban Linx 2	21,000	89,000
31	Eminem	Relapse	14,000	1,438,000
34	Trick Daddy	Finally FamousL Born A Thug, Still A Thug	13,000	13,000
56	New Boyz	Skinny Jeanz & A Mic	10,000	10,000
200	KRS-One & Buckshot	Survival Skills	8,400	8,600

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