Quality vs. Quantity: 5 Mic Sales?

The sun will still shine...

The Deputy! over at XXL chastised the loud minority (big on praise, short on album support) of Clipse advocates that didn’t cop Til the Casket Drops its first week out. It got me thinking about my longstanding theory that album sales and classic albums are not mutually exclusive. Read: Your album is so great, no one bought it, or Your sales are spectacular, you’re still a horrible rapper.

So how have “classic albums”—a loaded term on its best day—faired in the sales race? For the sake of saving my time, for this list I used all the albums that received the former gold standard for rap long player excellence, a 5 mic rating in The Source Magazine. Also worth noting is that The Source had a “do-over” moment when they gave some albums 5 mic honors they didn’t originally receive (i.e. The Score originally received only 4 mics).

I then looked up each album on the database provided by the RIAA (those cats that certify record sales and hate mixtapes) to see what is its latest sales award (Gold, Platinum, Platinum+, etc) which is then listed next to the title in parentheses.

Keep in mind that if a label really wants to they can cook the books to keep the sales down (as convenient a reason to tell an artist they haven’t recouped as any). Considering how many people had the vinyl, tape, and CD, there is just no way De La Soul’s 3 Feet High & Rising debut hadn’t moved a milli’s worth of albums before finally being certified Platinum in 2000, 11 years after its initial release.

It’s tough to get a handle on the sales of albums like Boogie Down Productions’ Criminal Minded and Main Source’s Breaking Atoms since their original labels are defunct (B-Boy Records and Wild Pitch, respectively), and were operating under code 4,080 when they were up and running.

After looking over the list below, consider that Vanilla Ice’s To the Extreme is 6x Platinum and MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em is 10x Platinum (aka Diamond).

Also…

•Eminem being absent from this list, besides guest verses, didn’t stop him from being the best selling artist of the decade.

•Being a Hip-Hop martyr scores you plenty of record sales (Notorious BIG & Pac)

•A gang of you probably never even listened to Grip It! On That Other Level, same goes for Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop.

•I still feel a ways LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out isn’t on here.

•Considering Nas’ sales, it was cheaper to keep her. But he’s still Top 5 Dead or Alive.

•OutKast has more than one classic album and UGK gets no respect.

2001 by Dr. Dre (6x Platinum)

All Eyez On Me by 2Pac (9x Platinum)

AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted by Ice Cube (Platinum)

Aquemini by Outkast (2x Platinum)

The Blueprint by Jay-Z (2x Platinum)

Breaking Atoms by Main Source

By All Means Necessary by Boogie Down Productions (Gold)

The Chronic by Dr. Dre (3x Platinum)

Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions

Critical Beatdown by Ultramagnetic MCs

De La Soul Is Dead by De La Soul (Gold)

Death Certificate by Ice Cube (Platinum)

The Diary by Scarface (Platinum)

Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg (4x Platinum)

Edutainment by Boogie Down Productions (Gold)

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan (Platinum)

The Fix by Scarface

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick by Slick Rick (Platinum)

Grip It! On That Other Level by Geto Boys

Illmatic by Nas (Platinum)

The Infamous by Mobb Deep (Gold)

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy (Platinum)

Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em by Eric B. & Rakim (Gold)

Licensed to Ill by The Beastie Boys (8x Platinum)

Life After Death by The Notorious B.I.G. (10x Platinum)

Long Live the Kane by Big Daddy Kane (Gold)

The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest (Platinum)

Me Against the World by 2Pac (2x Platinum)

The Naked Truth by Lil’ Kim

No One Can Do It Better by The D.O.C. (Platinum)

One for All by Brand Nubian

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… by Raekwon (Gold)

Paid in Full by Eric B. & Rakim (Platinum)

People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm by A Tribe Called Quest (Gold)

Radio by LL Cool J (Platinum)

Raising Hell by Run-D.M.C. (3x Platinum)

Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G. (4x Platinum)

Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z (Platinum)

Run-D.M.C. by Run-D.M.C. (Gold)

The Score by The Fugees (6x Platinum)

Stillmatic by Nas (Platinum)

Straight Out the Jungle by The Jungle Brothers

Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A. (2x Platinum)

Strictly Business by EPMD (Gold)

Big Sean “Getcha Some” Video

The song that got dude noticed when it was on a Kanye West mixtape TWO years ago (though, there is an additional verse and the mix has been tweaked a bit since then.) Also, that’s a lot of BAPE. [Spotted at The Smoking Section]

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Big Sean in XXL

Big Sean in XXL Mag

Big Sean - Show & Prove (XXL Mag)

Got to write a Show & Prove for XXL Mag’s August ’09 issue on that kid Big Sean that’s singed to G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam. Word. [via KanyeUniverseCity & UKnowBigSean]

UKNOWBIGSEAN Mixtape (via 2DopeBoyz)

Rick Ross, Latest Hip-Hop Bootlegger

So the Bawse, Rick Ross, got called out by the powers that be at Louis Vuitton over those fraudulent specs he sported on his recent XXL Mag cover. Seeing that Ross initially and foolhardedly denied his past as a Correction Officer, the Internets is abuzz over his latest faux pas.

But really, Hip-Hop heads sporting bootleg gear isn’t anything new. O.G. rap fans will remember the infinite shout outs given to one Dapper Dan [via Iced Dot Com]; a Harlem clothing shop owner and designer infamous for his skill at creating Hip-Hop stylized takes on designer labels like Gucci, MCM or even Nike.

For example, those track suits and jackets sported on the cover of some of your favorite Eric B & Rakim albums, were as counterfeit as the day is long.

Since then the Hip-Hop generation has flexed it tastemaker muscle with artists like Kanye West (Nike, Louis Vuitton) and Pharrell Williams (Louis Vuitton)—can’t forget grand Puba and the Tommy Hilfiger too—getting the official co-sign from and even producing sanctioned lines for some of these brands.

The beauty of Hip-Hop is taking some otherwise milquetoast product, putting our fresh stamp on it, and making it that much more desirable to the wannabes (read: mainstream) hawking our steez.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not giving the Bawse a pass on this one. Those frames were hella tacky looking anyway (there is only one Undisputed King of Cheap Sunglasses). And if you think that more rappers than not are rocking the genuine article as opposed to  Canal Street Specials, you’re lying to yourself.

That reminds of another of my greatest fashion peeves. The rocking of some grotesquely horrible piece of clothing with the wearer’s only defense for his suspect garb an excuse along the lines of, “But it’s Polo, yo.” Fugg outta here.

UPDATE: Rick Ross Explanation on Shades [via AllHipHop]

Charlie Murphy X Lil Wayne

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Eddie’s brother has a new comedy show. Hmm, we’ll see. As long as he can get some form of his True Hollywood stories, he might be good money. [via Crackle]

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Weezy Addresses Fitty (yes, “Fitty” a la Mookie) [via XXLMag.com]

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