So my bro Wingspan sent me an email just now with the subject "Had to get this shit off my chest". Basically a few paragraphs of him venting about Lil Wayne's first week sales. It was so in-depth I figured I'd share it with you all. Whether you agree or disagree is totally up to you but its a good read nonetheless. We may start having guest writers from time to time depending on how well this is received. We give a platform to artists and designers, why not give one to writers as well? Let me know. If you have any comments, please feel free to post them or send them directly to Wingspan on Twitter. Also be on the lookout for Wingspan's Growing Wings due out soon. Presented by PigeonsAndPlanes & DealWithNoDeal. I'll let Wingspan speak now:
Had To Get This Shit Off My Chest
Let me take you back to December 21st, 2009 'We Are Young Money' (Lil Wayne, Drake & Nicki Minaj + weed carrier collab album) it had a huge buzz & huge singles like' Bedrock' & 'Every Girl in the World'. In it's first week it sold only 142,100 copies. Now let's move forward to Febuary 2nd, 2010. 'Rebirth' Lil Wayne's HIGHLY promoted album sold only 176,000 copies it's first week. Now let's move to October 12th, 2010. Lil Waynes HIGHLY promoted 'I Am Not A Human Being' album is released. He becomes the first rapper since 2Pac to be #1 on the billboard while being locked up but yet only sells 125,000 copies in it's first week.
Now lets move on to August 8, 2011. The HIGHEST promoted, HUGEST BUZZ album of the year and in recent memory 'Watch The Throne' is released. Two of the biggest rappers EVER combined in one album. An album that didn't even leak until the day of. This album sold 436,000 copies in it's first week. Great numbers and very believable.
Now let me take you back to June 18, 2010. The biggest & highest selling rapper EVER, of all time.The biggest rap artist on the face of the earth, Eminem releases his highly anticipated, huge buzz having album 'Recovery'. This goes on to sell 741,000 copies in it's first week. Great numbers, very believable.
Now on to 'The Carter IV' which has zero buzz, multiple failed singles, and when it leaked the general consensus was that album was terrible or just bad. The best songs Wayne not even being on. This goes on to sell 1 million copies in it's first week? Just a couple weeks after 'Watch The Throne' is released. It's 2011 and Lil Wayne with zero buzz does more than double the number Ye & Jay do? When Waynes past 3 albums didn't even do over 200k? Record sales in all genres have declined every year for a long time.
So how the hell in this climate does Wayne with no buzz & a shitty album sell more than Eminem, Jay-Z & Kanye? I'll answer the question. Cash Money bought multiple copies of the album. They either keep them or take them back to the store but I think record sales work like this. Once an album is scanned, it counts as a sale. If someone takes the album back that doesnt effect the sale. The only explaination is that Cash Money bought hundreds & thousands of albums to make it seem like the album did better than it did because Wayne is their biggest artist/cash cow and they don't want people thinking he's flopped. If it looks like it's selling a lot it will make people think its good and buy it. Just like they were accused of when The Carter 3 came out. They bought copies. If you believe that The Carter IV sold 1 million copies in its first week in the united states you probably also believe in Santa Clause.
Wingspan's Twitter.
Great read by a great Artist!
Hey thanks for the photo credit!
'Sup Span, 'Sup Copastetik?
I figured I would chime in on this debate because (a) I'm a Wayne head and (b) There are some holes
in the argument. (NOTE: I am not saying that the 1 million+ sales is a reliable figure, I'm not, but
I do believe he *possibly* outsold everyone else legitly. Also note that this is largely conjecture
from my side).
I want to say, off the bat, that the likelihood that YMCMB purchasing large stocks of Carter IV
hard-copy is high. It probably isn't debatable that a number of Cash Money goons went to their local
stores and purchased the entire supply of merchandise for that outlet. That said, it would require
an ARMY, not metaphorical I'm talking a literal ARMY, to pervade all of the stores necessary to
reach the level of units needed to push the week one sales over 1 million. As for your theory on the
sale-return tactic, I have my issues with it. I think more along the lines of: how many did the
stores buy, and then when they sold out, what was the accumulation of their next bulk order. Either
way, it's all semantics, the "ARMY" point still remains.
This opens the door to two new points: Wayne's fanbase and iTunes. Wayne's fanbase: his demographic
mostly falls into the age bracket of 13 - 19. Teeny boppers with a penchant for his witty
one-liners, bouncy personality, and (yes) limited content structure and focus (money, women, etc).
One quick look at statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and we can tell that a HUGE chunk of the
American population resides in this age bracket. This, without looking any further, increases the
chances of Wayne's sales being higher than, say, Kanye and Jay's (who have a demographic of older
stature and more likely to buy a greater range of music, whilst also being more "in-the-know" about
illegal downloading - just because WTT didn't leak before the release date, does not mean that
people didn't just wait until it was released to cop for free. Additionally, if you are a die hard
fan you cop the illegal one before and pay for the real thing after anyway).
As for iTunes. This is a different kettle of fish altogether. Wayne broke the world record for
iTunes first week album sales in 4 days. Do you think YMCMB signed up with a 100,000 accounts (and
credit cards and different homes of residence) in order to boost this up? No sir. This is
irrefutably proof, in my opinion, that Wayne was destined to reach Eminem numbers.
Finally, because I'm getting bored, Tha Carter series is not your average Wayne drop (i.e. I Am Not
A Human forced out by Birdman for some extra spending chips while Wayne roasted away in Rikers
Island). Tha Carter series have been solid records from 1-3 and have a kind of legendary status that
sets them above "We Are Young Money", a tacky compilation album of cast-off verses from heavyweights
in the YM camp. I personally liked Tha Carter IV and I'm sure I'll be cut off from the DWND loop for
saying that too but, fuck it, it was enjoyable to listen to. Nothing ground-breaking, just a good
enough listen and a few dope tracks to keep me bumping some when the time suits.
The moral of the story, though, is that when Gaga sells millions we all clap and say it was bound to
happen. But when Wayne does it's a crime to humanity - it's not, it's a dude with an enormous
fanbase and a helluva tour schedule.
"Just my thoughts man..." - Jay-Z
iTunes sales don't count towards first week sales that 1 million was strictly hard copies in the US alone. If iTunes sales counted it'd be more believable. I know it's hard for you to believe since you LOVE Wayne but it's a fact that Def Jam bought/played with records more than a few times so it's very possibly Cash Money did the same thing. He might've done 600k but no way he did more than that. He Will never, ever be a bigger artist than Eminem.
I can't wait to see how HUGE the second week decline is
Tha Carter IV saw an 80% decline in sales the 2nd week. That's crazy lol