NEWS Update: Wale Sells 28K in First Week, Manager Claims LP Was Under Shipped

After several push backs, Attention: Deficit—the debut CD from XXL Freshman alum Wale—finally hit stores last Tuesday (November 10). Seven days later his first-week stats are in, and unfortunately the CD failed to top any of the big dawgs from their top spots on The Billboard 200 sales charts.

According to the Nielsen SoundScan, the disc landed at the no. 21 spot, with 28,100 units sold. With all the hype surrounding the release, a guest spot on Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 tour and a gig fronting the official house band of the 2009 MTV VMAs, many believed the Interscope rapper would have a bigger first week.

XXLMag.com spoke with Wale’s manager, Daniel Weisman, who claims that the label under shipped the disc to stores, much like what happened to fellow “Class of 09″ MC Asher Roth. ”Wale’s the type of artist who is bigger than the metrics (radio) say he is,” Weisman said. “That puts the label in a tough position in terms of physical distribution and because of twitter we are able to hear direct feedback from the fans about the problems they had actually finding the CD. But 64% of Wale’s sales came from digital outlets which makes sense for Wale. It’s a testament to Interscope and their confidence in Wale’s brand that they put the record out without a big single.”

The other only new hip-hop release to enter the charts this week was Wyclef Jean’s new collaborative effort with DJ Drama. The rap vet’s street CD, From the Hut, to the Projects, to the Mansion, debuted at no. 171, selling 3,300 discs. Drama—who executive-produced the extended EP—described it to to XXL as “Wyclef’s first all-around hip-hop project since The Carnival.”

Continuing his dominance at the head of the rap pack is Brooklyn rap giant Jay-Z. Despite falling one spot to no. 16 BP3 managed to ring up 33,000 more albums to his overall sales figure this go-round. After 10 weeks, the rapper’s latest opus has sold 1,271,200 units.

Four spots down at no. 20 is the Black Eyed Peas. The E.N.D. pulled in another 28,200 in sales this week, making its total tally stand at 1,356, 200.

Next week look for 50 Cent’s long-awaited fourth solo album Before I Self Destruct to make a huge impact on The Billboard 200. —Elan Mancini